


Tightly Bound

by ddelusionall



Series: Bound By Blood [1]
Category: DBSK | Tohoshinki | TVfXQ | TVXQ, JYJ (Band)
Genre: Age Difference, Archery, Arranged Marriage, Curses, Elves, Falling In Love, Happy Ending, Historical, Homophobia, Jaejoong is really old because he is an elf, Kings & Queens, M/M, Magic, Master/Slave elements but only because there's a curse, Pining, Rivals to Lovers, Sex, sort of dubious consent because there's a curse, this whole story is JaeMin separating their feelings from the curse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-13
Updated: 2015-12-05
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:20:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 26,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23826745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ddelusionall/pseuds/ddelusionall
Summary: Jaejoong is Changmin's biggest rival. When the elf reveals that Changmin is his only option to curb the pain from an ancient curse, Changmin must decide what to do. And he must decide if his sudden feelings for Jaejoong are real, or a result of magic he does not understand.
Relationships: Kim Jaejoong/Shim Changmin
Series: Bound By Blood [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1716772
Kudos: 1





	1. The Binding Curse

**Author's Note:**

> I am importing my stories from LiveJournal. The original fic can be found [here](http://be-ddelusionall.livejournal.com/).
> 
> I haven't read this story in a long time, so I may have missed some tags. Just let me know if I did.

Changmin glowered, the anger in his eyes daring even the walls to upset him further. He stomped through the hallways. Servants scurried from his path, bowing as he brushed by them, barely acknowledging them. His personal servant, Minho, followed close behind, wisely keeping his mouth shut while they were in public. He only moved ahead of Changmin to open the main door to his rooms and bow the prince through.

Changmin scoffed at the action and entered his sitting room. He kept his hands at his sides, balled up in fists, and paced, back and forth, away from anything that he might have thrown in his frustration.

He hated losing, especially to the elf prince.

“The only reason he is better than me is because he is immortal,” Changmin muttered.

“Not immortal. Just very hard to kill.”

Changmin waved that away and continued pacing a tract on the rug in his sitting room, between one chair to the window, glowering at nothing. He fought the urge to fling his bow like a spoilt child. His bow was his best friend, in practice and in battle. It was not the bow’s fault that his irritation had skewed his arrows off their marks this morning during practice.

“Do you want to know what I think?” Minho asked.

“Definitely not.”

“Neither of you is better than the other. You are both breathtakingly gorgeous. You are both heirs to thrones. You are both strong warriors. No one shoots a bow better than either of you, and you actually outshot him in the last tournament!”

“The wind favored my shot.”

“Well, if you’re going to be stubborn...” Minho fell into Changmin’s desk chair with a sigh and put his feet up on Changmin’s desk.

Changmin glared at him.

“I don’t understand why you’re disagreeing with me. I’m telling you that you are just as good as he is, which is an accomplishment because you’re only a human! You should be saying you’re better for that exact reason. He has tricks and magic. You are only human!”

Changmin shook his head, long hair brushing over his eyes.

A solid knock on the door disrupted Minho’s next tirade, and Changmin glared at the offending wood, like it was the door’s fault.

“Come in!” Minho called and stood back up.

Changmin twisted his glare to him instead. And the door opened before he could retract the invitation.

Changmin’s ire turned to surprise as Kim Jaejoong walked through the door.

“You knew he was coming,” Changmin accused as Minho walked by him.

Minho smirked. “Of course I did. Be nice.” He left the room, shutting the door behind him.

Changmin glared at the elf standing in his personal sanctuary. His blond hair was almost messy, around the top of his head, like his personal maid hadn’t bothered to do anything to it before he left the elven castle. Wind tossed. Tempting. Black kohl lined his eyelids, emphasizing the darkness of his eyes. The fading orange sunlight sparkled through the silver earrings up and down his pointed ears. The beautiful elf was dressed almost casually in black pants that looked soft and a loose gray sweater that looked even softer. Brown boots hit just above his ankles.

Changmin cleared his throat. “What do you want?”

Jaejoong winced like Changmin had smacked him. “A favor.”

Changmin said nothing and waited. They were civil to one another when they had to talk but that was all. They tried to only be in the same room if they were competing for something. A favor between them meant a lot.

Jaejoong smiled at him. “You are wearing your bow. You’ve been practicing today?

Changmin had not changed from his practice clothes, tight black shirt and pants, nothing exaggerated, nothing out of place. Nothing distracted him during practice. But it was also not an outfit to meet a visiting prince in. His hair was also messy. The wind had been blowing hard over the practice range. Minho, Changmin decided, had done this on purpose, the cad.

“I practice every day,” Changmin finally said in the silence.

Jaejoong nodded. “Good, good. You are getting so very good. I ...” He pulled at the sleeves of his sweater and bit his lip. “I love to watch you shoot. You are ... elegant.”

In his confusion, Changmin tried not to lick his lips at the way the shirt pulled off his shoulder, showing off his collarbone and a couple of scrolls of tattooed skin. Jaejoong did not give him compliments, at least, not one that was underhanded and mostly an insult.

“A favor,” Changmin prompted and cleared his throat, wondering whatever it was that he was able to do for the practically immortal elf.

“A favor,” Jaejoong repeated. He sighed and lifted a hand. The air wavered in magic, and the pale, perfect skin of his neck turned black, lines obscuring the skin in a twisted mark of ownership.

“A curse?” Changmin asked, stepping toward Jaejoong without even thinking about it. He reached to touch the blackened skin, and Jaejoong let him, head tilted with a quiet sigh. “How did this happen? When did this happen? Who dared to--”

Jaejoong turned his head and smiled up at him. Changmin was also taller than the elf, just one more point to him. Humans were rarely taller than elves. “It happened when I was near your age.”

Changmin’s eyes widened. “That was centuries ago!”

“Yes. I know. You have heard of a Binding Curse?”

Changmin snorted. “Legends.”

“They were not legends back then, and it has been my reality. Unfortunately, the warlock who placed the curse upon me was quickly killed in the battle during the Warlock War. I have lived with this for my entire life.”

Changmin’s eyes widened. “Does it hurt?”

“It always hurts, but your touch has calmed the pain.” Jaejoong took a very deep breath. “And there is my favor. You may not be aware of this, but that warlock was part of your family.”

Changmin’s eyes went even wider. “I am not a warlock!” he shouted. “How dare you even suggest--”

Jaejoong covered his mouth and laughed at Changmin’s outburst. “I am not calling you a warlock. There are no more warlocks to even attempt to teach you to become one, and you will not because you are not an evil person whose focus is only on wealth and personal gain. All I am saying is that the warlock is from your family line.”

“Even that is an insult. To even imply that--”

“Oh, hush,” Jaejoong snapped. “It was so many centuries ago that it no longer matters. What does matter is that the curse is still upon me and I cannot get rid of it.”

“Well, I cannot remove it!”

Jaejoong smiled and shook his head. “Only the warlock who placed it can remove it. The curse, I am afraid, will be with me for my life.”

“Then what am I to do?”

Jaejoong took Changmin’s wrist and placed Changmin’s hand back on his neck. “As I said, your touch makes the pain go away.”

Changmin had no problems putting both hands on Jaejoong’s neck, fingers brushing his jaw. “I do not understand,” he whispered. “Why does my touch help?”

Jaejoong gripped Changmin’s wrists, eyes fluttering shut. “You were born into this world with abilities that no other human has. As you said, you are not a warlock, but that blood still runs through you. As soon as you were born, I was drawn to you. I’ve watched you and hoped, well ... it did not turn out the way I wanted. You’ve been so angry at me, so much my rival, and I never meant for that to happen by being around you so much. The throbbing is less. The pain goes away when you are close to me. The only thing that means is that the Binding Curse recognizes you in a way it has not recognized anyone in hundreds of years. You make the pain go away. Please, Changmin-ah, please. Allow me to be near you. Allow me to be ... be yours. Belong to you.”

Jaejoong sank to his knees, keeping Changmin’s wrists against his skin, but Changmin let him go, shook him off and stepped away from him, unable to breathe.

Jaejoong’s sob echoed through the room.

Changmin stood a few feet from him, in shock, in awe. A Binding Curse, binding an immortal being to blood, blood that Changmin had. It should not have been possible. This had to be a trick.

“I tried so hard to be friends,” Jaejoong said. “Instead of friends, we are rivals, enemies. That is not what I wanted. I tried to get close to you without telling you about the curse because I did not want my pain to be the reason that we are friends. But it hurts more. Every day without you, it hurts more. It has felt you and knows you and recognizes you, so when I am not close to you, it hurts even more. I can ... I can barely move when I am in my rooms at my home. The pain just ... please, Changmin-ah, please.”

Changmin was not a cruel prince. His mother taught him just as much about the plight of their peasants as his father taught him to rule them. He was not cruel. Knowing Jaejoong was in pain when not near him did not make Changmin want to gloat and lord over the elf still on his knees. Take this as a victory and a reason to claim that he is was better. It made his chest hurt. Hurt because Jaejoong was hurting. And Changmin had the power to stop it.

“Minho!” Changmin shouted, and sure enough, his servant opened the door. He’d probably been trying to listen in.

Jaejoong scrambled to his feet before Minho saw him on his knees, and his hand lifted, covering the curse mark.

Changmin kept his eyes on Jaejoong as he said, “Have my reading room converted into a bedroom, with all the courtesies that our family shows to visiting elven royalty. Jaejoong-shi will be staying with us for a while.”

“But the guest rooms-”

“My reading room, Minho. See that it is done. Tonight. Have someone tell the cook that Jaejoong will be joining me for dinner in my private dining room.”

Minho shrugged, barely bowed, and said, “Of course, your highness.” He left the room again.

Jaejoong stared at Changmin, fisted hands tight against his chest. His dark eyes glistened with tears. By the Gods, his eyes were beautiful. Dark, but churning with grays and blues that reminded Changmin of an approaching storm.

“Thank you, Changmin-ah. Thank you.”

Changmin took a very deep breath and held out his hand. Jaejoong smiled and then flung his arms around Changmin’s shoulders. Changmin took a very deep breath of the smell of trees and flowers, and his arm wrapped around Jaejoong’s small waist.

“You are not in pain?” Changmin asked, whispering against the soft hair in his face.

“Not anymore. Not when I’m near you.”

Changmin swallowed roughly. “You said friends?”

Jaejoong nodded.

“Okay.” He took a very deep breath. “We can be friends.”

Changmin held him for a very long time. Jaejoong body shuddered against him, his breath staggered at first and then steadied.

Changmin waited to feel alarmed at how easy it was to go from hating the elf in his arms to worrying and caring about him. Was that because of the curse? Was his own blood and heart so easily swayed because of the magic?

“Did you bring any luggage?” Changmin asked, finally pulling away from Jaejoong. He felt his cheeks flush at the awed look on Jaejoong’s face and he turned away.

Jaejoong shook his head. “Just a cloak for riding. The wind is really strong today.”

Changmin cleared his throat. “Then I guess I will dress to match you even if what you are wearing is hardly an outfit one wears to dinner with a prince.”

“And yours is hardly an outfit one wears to receive an audience with a prince,” he shot back.

“I did not know you were coming.”

“I did not know I was staying.”

Changmin fought the urge to smile, though he felt his mouth twitch. Jaejoong had seen it and he laughed, using his sweater-covered hand to cover his mouth.

“Dinner is not yet for another hour,” Changmin said. “You are free to explore.” He waved his hands around his rooms. “I need to go speak with my mother.”

“You won’t tell her ...” Jaejoong covered his neck with his hand.

Changmin winced. “I must. I will not tell the king. But my mother loves me.”

Jaejoong lowered his head. “It has been a secret for so many years.”

“I understand, but I do not want my mother or father to question your being here. Have Minho take you to my private dining room. I will be there.”

“Late?” He raised an eyebrow.

“That was one time!”

Jaejoong chuckled. “Twice, actually.”

“By two minutes!”

“And who was the girl that distracted you?”

“Shut up,” he muttered, blushing profusely because it definitely had not been a girl distracting him. Jaejoong did not need to know that.

Jaejoong laughed again, and Changmin stalked out of his rooms to go talk to his mother about this strange, new development.


	2. The Binding Touch

In case you need a visual:  
  
Prince Changmin

  
Prince Jaejoong

The discussion with his mother took longer than he had hoped and Changmin flew back to his rooms, discarding his practice clothes almost before he was actually inside his rooms. He hurried to his bathing room. He did not have time to do more than a quick wash of his body. His maids attempted to help him but he was in too much of a hurry and he ignored them.

They had laid out an outfit for him in his dressing room, and he ignored it, going to his closet. He pulled on a comfortable pair of black breeches and a gray tunic, never ones that he would wear to dinner with a visiting prince, especially not a visiting elven prince. Jaejoong and Changmin had constantly and consciously tried to out-dress each other in the past, so his maids had done correctly, but today was different. His hair was still a mess about his head, but there was nothing that could be done about it. He pulled on a pair of brown boots and hurried from the room, again almost flying down the hallways.

A servant bowed at the door of his dining room and opened it. Another servant just inside also bowed, his arm out for a dining cloak that Changmin had not worn.

Jaejoong turned from his perusal of the paintings on the walls and smiled. His clothes were the same and his smile widened after he looked Changmin up and down.

“Early,” Changmin said and moved to the head of the table.

Jaejoong smirked. “Barely on time.”

Changmin sat at his spot at the head of the table and then motioned to Jaejoong to take the spot next to him. Jaejoong did so gracefully. As soon as he sat, the door opened and servants appeared with the first course. At least the food was worthy of a visiting prince. Their wine glasses were filled, and a musician with a violin came in.

“Question,” Changmin said after a few bites.

Jaejoong hummed around a bit of his salad.

“Does this relieve it, or must I--” He did not want to say too much with so many ears about, so to demonstrate, he stretched a leg and hooked his ankle around Jaejoong’s.

Jaejoong smiled and took a deep drink of wine. “Yes, to both. Being in the same room is enough, but I will not say no to that.”

Changmin felt his face flush, but he did not move his foot. “Your family will not mind if you stay for a while?”

“No. It was my father that demanded I tell you today. He practically threw me out and onto a horse.”

Changmin snorted. “Stubborn as always.”

Jaejoong smiled, but did not reply with his words. His foot though slid up Changmin’s calf muscle.

“Can you tell me about the Wars?”

“Not in public,” Jaejoong said immediately. Which was not a refusal. Changmin would ask again. The Wars were documented in history books, but history books were written by the victors. And yes, the elves won, but barely. Changmin needed details.

“Tell me about your shooting today.”

Changmin scowled at his potatoes. “I was off the mark. That’s it.”

“A bad day, then?”

“You can call it that. I actually missed the target once completely because I was so distracted.”

“The wind?”

“I can shoot in the wind,” he said hotly.

“I know. You’ve beaten me that way before. You are very good.” His foot went farther up his leg, almost behind his knee.

Changmin cleared his throat. “I’ve beaten you from pure skill as well.”

“As have I.”

The second course was brought out. Changmin ate it in silence, and Jaejoong emulated him. His foot stayed close, rubbing up and down his leg.

“I love eating here,” Jaejoong said suddenly, holding up a bite of meat. “The fruit and plants of the forest get incredibly boring. There are only so many ways to prepare a legume before you have done them all. Have you learned to cook?”

“Whatever would I need to cook for?”

Jaejoong shrugged. “Consider it a challenge.”

“With you as my competition?”

“No, with me as your teacher. I already know how to cook.”

Changmin frowned, a refusal on his lips, but was that rude? Probably. Jaejoong was a slave to the Binding Curse on his neck. Changmin had to be nice and placate him some how.

“I am sure there is something that you do well that you can teach me.”

“I doubt that.”

“You’re smart,” Jaejoong said. “You’ll think of something.”

Changmin fought the urge to roll his eyes.

After a dessert of strawberries and chocolate, Changmin led the way back to their rooms. Jaejoong walked level with him, their shoulders barely touching. Changmin did not hold out his arm to escort him, the way he would a visiting noble girl, even if he wanted to.

Halfway to his rooms, he remembered that his reading room was now a bedroom, so he stopped and turned down a different hallway and headed to the main library.

Jaejoong followed him.

“I usually read and study after dinner,” Changmin said. “You can do whatever you wish.”

“You would not get to read or study if you really mean that.”

Changmin fought the urge to look at him. He had a feeling he knew what Jaejoong alluded to, but that was madness for both of them. Changmin especially despite his particular sensibilities to the subject.

Changmin entered the library, acknowledged the servant who bowed at him, and then moved through the books to the shelf full of books on the Warlock Wars. He removed the main volume he had been reading the last few weeks. Re-reading. He took it to his favorite couch and sat down, slouched against the arm.

The Warlock Wars happened over five hundred years ago. It’d been a messy bloody war between the elves, who used magic for light, and the warlocks, who used magic for the dark. Their spells required blood sacrifices and animal body parts. Their spells were unnatural, calling on and binding others to them.

There was a rumor that a rogue elf turned on his people and taught humans how to do magic, but humans were only able to do magic with other forms help, not the way that elves naturally did magic.

These humans were different because of the mixing of the blood. They bred, spreading the tainted dark blood to their kin, creating a those with an affinity for magic. It was a family affair, with children apprenticing under their fathers or uncles. Women were used as sacrifices and for procreation.

Or so some claimed. Others claimed the warlocks were just stupid humans who wanted to oust the elves from power.

The history book Changmin was reading started after the beginning of the wars, after someone decided to call it a war. There were only a few teasing mentions of the beginning of the warlocks.

“Do you mind?” Jaejoong asked and sat on the couch next to him.

Changmin cleared his throat. He shifted to give Jaejoong room, but the elf shifted with him, almost on top of him and leaned against his body. Changmin swallowed and sighed.

“You can tell me to move,” Jaejoong said. “Order it, even.”

Instead, Changmin laid his arm over the back of the couch, fingers barely brushing where he knew the curse burned Jaejoong’s skin. He moved his legs enough to lay the book over his lap, and then used his other hand to turn the pages. Jaejoong smiled, a soft curve of his lips that Changmin saw, even though he was looking at the book. Not at Jaejoong’s face. Not at how close they were.

And then Changmin chuckled.

“What?” Jaejoong asked, turning the page on the children’s book about faeries.

“Very heavy reading. Such an academic.”

Jaejoong chuckled and shifted and settled more against Changmin’s body. “I like faeries.”

Changmin’s finger trailed along the edge of his gray sweater. He watched Jaejoong read, smile and turn the pages. His own studies were forgotten. He watched the dim light of dusk fade, replaced by the flickering glow of candles. Until Jaejoong finished the book. He closed it and then closed Changmin’s book, and Changmin did not bother to protest since he had not been reading it anyway.

Jaejoong pressed closer to him, curled up with his feet on the couch, head against Changmin’s chest. Changmin felt his heart’s rapid thumping and wondered if Jaejoong also felt it. His arms were shaking as he wrapped them around Jaejoong’s body, gripped hands at his shoulder.

Jaejoong hummed in appreciation and whispered, “It has been so very long since nothing hurt. Thank you, Changmin-ah.”

Changmin swallowed. He did not know what to say, so he said nothing, until Jaejoong yawned and stretched, body pressed tightly against him.

“Time for bed?” Changmin whispered.

Jaejoong smiled and said, “If we must.”

“Do you need ... I mean, I had a room prepared for you, but do you ... do we need to share?”

Jaejoong pushed away from him, hands on Changmin’s chest. His smile turned just a bit playful, the look in his eyes simmered along Changmin’s skin. “Need? No. I don’t need to share your bed, but I would--”

Changmin choked, cutting him off, and then pushed him away by his shoulders. Jaejoong fell against the other side of the couch and laughed. “Come on,” he said. “We’ve competed in every way possible but those done in a bed.”

“Shut your mouth,” Changmin hissed. “Humans do not ... we do not ...”

“Oh, I know. Which is why it is so much fun to tease you.”

Changmin stood up quickly and ignored the hand on his hip and walked away from the laughing elf. He hoped that Jaejoong had not seen or felt his erection because while the elves did not care much about what gender shared their bed, humans did. Changmin’s parents did. The heir to the kingdom had to marry, have a child, produce another heir.

Jaejoong followed him from the library. The hallways were lit by only a few torches. It was later than Changmin had expected. His room was prepared for his evening, and Minho was there to escort Jaejoong through Changmin’s sitting room and into the reading room that was now his bedroom. Changmin only glanced inside to make sure that it had been transformed according to his orders.

“We received word from the Elf King that he was sending your belongings to you as soon as they were packed.”

Jaejoong smiled. “Thank you, Minho. You’ve been very helpful, very efficient.”

“Comes with serving this oaf,” he said and jerked his thumb at Changmin.

Changmin ignored him, but shut his eyes as Jaejoong laughed. Had his laugh always been so pretty? So serene? Changmin remembered it being harsh and sarcastic.

“Do you need anything else?” Minho asked.

Changmin said no and dismissed him. As soon as he was gone, Changmin returned to the sitting room where Minho had set out a bottle of elvenberry wine and two glasses. He poured them both half a glass and then turned back toward the room that now belonged to Jaejoong. With the door open, Changmin saw very clearly the pale expanse of skin, the brown and green tattoos curling up around his back, hip and shoulders. The explosive colors of ink on the other side of his spine from shoulder blade to ass. He shut his eyes, and hoped he had not whimpered out loud. He breathed deep, controlling his body, like during an archery tournament.

Control. He had to ...

But it was so weird. He hated this elf not even two hours ago. He had always been beautiful, stunning, entrancing. But never ... tangible. Never ...

“Is one of those for me?” Jaejoong asked.

Changmin opened his eyes.

Jaejoong had thrown on one of Changmin’s robes, the burgundy fabric showing off how pale his skin was.

Changmin nodded and handed him a glass. Jaejoong took it with a grin, and one shoulder of the robe fell, showing a trail of green vines tattooed on his shoulder.

Jaejoong downed half the wine at once and Changmin followed suit.

“A sweet vintage,” Jaejoong said. “From half a century ago or so. Well chosen.”

Changmin nodded. “It is my favorite.”

“I prefer your human whiskeys.”

“I will be sure to mention that to Minho.”

Jaejoong took a few more sips and then downed the rest of it. “Thank you,” he said, and then moved forward and hugged Changmin tightly. “You did not have to do this for me. I did not expect you to do this for me. I am forever in your debt.”

Changmin cleared his throat and managed to put the wine glass down without disrupting Jaejoong’s arms around his body. He returned the hug and smiled as Jaejoong sighed.

“It’s more for me than for you,” Changmin said. “I’d hate for you to use this as an excuse as to why I beat you in the next archery tournament.”

Jaejoong laughed, the noise muffled in Changmin’s shoulder.


	3. The Binding Shots

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaejoong is Changmin's biggest rival. When the elf reveals that Changmin is his only option to curb the pain from an ancient curse, Changmin must decide what to do. And he must decide if his sudden feelings for Jaejoong are real, or a result of magic he does not understand.

The next morning, Changmin did not necessarily forget that he had a new suite-mate, but he was used to reading something with his morning coffee. The tray of fruit and cheeses for breakfast was in his sitting room, but not the novel about a hero trying to survive in a world of metal. He frowned, wondering where it was, and went into his reading room.

His brain only said, “Right. No reading room,” after he had walked into what was now Jaejoong’s bedroom and after he stepped over the threshold of the room and stared at the beautiful elf asleep amidst dark blue fabrics. The blanket covered his lower half leaving just enough hipbone and thigh for Changmin to know that Jaejoong slept naked. His pale skin almost shimmered in the dim, dawn light from the window.

Before Changmin managed to retreat, Jaejoong’s eyes opened and he smiled widely. He yawned, body arching in a sensuous curve, and then murmured, “Good morning.”

“Good morning,” Changmin whispered. “How do you feel?”

“Content,” he replied with a smile. “It has been a long time since I slept without pain.”

“Good. There is breakfast and coffee in the sitting room whenever you are ready for it.”

Jaejoong stretched again, and Changmin quickly left the room before a persistent problem became more apparent.

Changmin settled at his desk instead of the chair. He had some complicated mathematics to finish before his exercise training schedule. Back to the room. He heard Jaejoong enter. He heard him eat and drink the offered meal. He kept his eyes and most of his concentration on his work.

“May I take a bath?” Jaejoong asked, startling Changmin, and his ink spread over the math problem he had been working on.

He cursed and glared over his shoulder. “Must you?”

“Must I what?” he asked with a confused look and head tilt.

Changmin swallowed, suddenly aware that Jaejoong wore only a short tunic in pale green. One of Changmin’s. He growled and crumpled up the ruined parchment. “Minho!”

The servant opened the door a moment later.

“Have the maids prepare a bath for the elf prince.”

“Yes, your highness.”

Changmin snapped a second piece of parchment from his desk drawer and flattened it on the surface. He dipped his quill into his ink and began scratching out the problem again. He felt more than heard Jaejoong move up behind him, and he had his quill raised when fingers touched his bare shoulder.

“I did not mean to upset you.”

Changmin shook his head. “Leave me to finish this. I need it done today. Enjoy your bath.”

“Thank you,” Jaejoong whispered and let his fingers linger on Changmin’s shoulder before moving away. He paused at the door, and Changmin fought the urge to turn because he had not heard him stop, but knew he had stopped. Somehow. “Thank you for everything.”

Changmin waited until he was alone and then snapped his quill with an annoyed cry. He shut his eyes, took deep breaths, and calmed his heart. He had learned not to act like a child when he did not understand something. He had learned not to react in anger. Why were his emotions so skewed? Why did it feel as if he was so connected to the elf? Why did it feel like he had always been so close to him when they had barely spent any real time together?

He did not understand Jaejoong.

He did not understand the curse that bound them together.

It took much longer than normal to return his focus on his studies, and he managed four solutions of ten before Jaejoong returned from his bath. The elf said nothing to him, but a light blanket settled over his bare shoulders. Changmin reached up and grabbed Jaejoong’s hand. He swallowed, unable to speak, and squeezed his hand instead.

Jaejoong chuckled. A soft noise that sounded reassuring. Not insulting. And then he moved away. In the middle of the next problem, Minho announced that Jaejoong’s things had arrived, and Changmin had to leave his math to supervise a cleansing of his closet of sorts, to make room for Jaejoong’s possessions.

The math remained untouched for the rest of the morning.

Jaejoong followed Changmin to the training yards, ran with him as he went on his daily route around the pastures and buildings of the castle. His presence annoyed Changmin only because it felt normal, like Jaejoong was supposed to be there, or like he had been there for Changmin’s entire life. After his run, he met with the swordmaster and their practice began. Again, Jaejoong stayed and watched. They shared a quick lunch, Changmin went to his sitting room to finish his math problems, and then Changmin dressed regally to join his father in court.

His father acknowledged Jaejoong’s presence in his castle by only asking after his health, since the queen did nothing more than tell him that Jaejoong was ill and needed to be here to recover.

Changmin assured him that Jaejoong was fine.

There were a few important concerns with late tithes and a foreman who had beaten a worker unfairly.

Changmin was required to give his opinion on all the cases with the king either agreeing with his insights or correcting him. Every situation was different, and despite studying law and history, he learned that books only taught him so much.

After court, Changmin had enough sunlight for archery practice. He returned to his rooms to change, discarding the finery upon his bed. Mostly naked he went into the closet and then had to shut his eyes in irritation because everything was in a difference place. His practice gear had been put in a set of drawers near the back corner. He tugged on the tight black pants and turned at a slight noise behind him.

Jaejoong leaned against the wide door and smiled. “You have an amazing body, Changmin-ah.”

Changmin felt his cheeks flush. “I know.” He pulled the shirt on, pulling it tight around his waist.

“Do you mind if I come with you? It will help me learn your weaknesses and exploit them during the next tournament.”

“Did your father bring your bow?”

Jaejoong smiled. “Of course.”

“Very well. If you must.”

Jaejoong touched his neck and smiled. “If I must.”

Changmin swallowed and moved around him into his room. His bow lay where it was supposed to, his quiver would be waiting for him at the archery field. Changmin paused only to pull on his high boots. He did not need to turn to make sure Jaejoong followed him.

“I seem to be doing nothing but bothering you today,” Jaejoong said from behind him. “I will not go if--”

Changmin waved him silent. “I am in a foul mood anyway, and it is not my place or my family’s to confine you to your room.”

“So diplomatic.”

Changmin glanced at him. “I guess you should be thankful that I am not working on hand-to-hand combat today.”

Jaejoong smirked. “With those muscles, that I have not had the previous joy in seeing, I am quite sure you would beat me.”

“Does the curse make you want to lose on purpose?”

“Definitely not.”

“Too bad.”

“Do you need the curse to do that in order to best me?”

“Definitely not.”

Jaejoong bumped their shoulders, and Changmin found himself smiling for the first time that day.

News of the two of them walking toward the archery field with their bows spread throughout the castle, and by the time they arrived, some of the younger servants and workers sat upon the wooden fences to watch.

“Shall we make this interesting?” Jaejoong asked and removed his bow. He checked the grooves and pulled the bow down to string it.

“Interesting?” Changmin said.

Jaejoong smiled. “Yes. A bet. The winner gets a kiss.”

Aware of their audience, Changmin rolled his eyes and curled his lip in disgust. But his heart fluttered a bit and he turned away to lick moisture back into his mouth. Jaejoong laughed.

He knew it was meant as a joke, but Changmin wanted a kiss badly. A feeling through his chest ached with the want to hold him. He ignored it. Was it just the curse that made him want to pull Jaejoong into his arms, slide hands upon his skin?

Changmin hefted a quiver of arrows to his back and turned away before checking the grooves, the grip, and then stringing the bow. There was only a small wind, blowing a few banners and pennants. The afternoon sun was midway in the sky on its way to the horizon.

“Quite daring to turn your back on me,” Jaejoong said.

Changmin refused the bait and watched as a few boys ran into the field to place the targets. The day before Changmin had been working on distance shooting. Now he was focusing on accuracy. He checked his grip, nocked an arrow and pulled it back to check the pull. The targets were nothing more than posts stuck into the ground with a colored top. He waited, adjusting his shot for the wind. His eyes shut for a moment.

In the fog of his brain, he heard ‘blue.’ It only took a moment to sight the blue post and he released the arrow. His mind cleared at the thunk of arrow in wood. The arrow hit the blue, though not in the center of the color. A second later, another twang snagged through the air, and Changmin’s arrow wavered as another slammed into the top of the post, right in the center of the color.

He turned to Jaejoong, eyes narrowed, and he reached for and knocked another bow. He had it up and ready, Jaejoong mirroring his movements. His teacher shouted another color, and Changmin aimed for yellow, hitting it a moment before Jaejoong’s. After that, there was no break between colors, and Changmin sank into the moment.

For once, upon his own soil, Changmin outshone the beautiful elf.

After the posts, his instructor had the boys bring out human sized targets. Each one had a smaller colored circle, meant to signify the point of weakness. The difference was that the dummies had either red or yellow markings and some had both.

“Changmin,” his teacher said, “you take red. Prince Jaejoong, yellow.”

Jaejoong smirked and readied an arrow.

Changmin copied him, once again focusing on the colors, on the task. Clearing his mind. Archery was easier with Jaejoong next to him. It had always been. He had always noted this, but said it was from the competition, the urge to be perfect and beat the beautiful elf. A corner of Changmin’s mind told him it was the binding curse. He ignored it, and listened for his teacher’s voice. As soon as he shouted, “Now,” Changmin began shooting at the targets.

His last arrow narrowly missed one of Jaejoong’s going for the same target that had two spots of color on it. Changmin’s hit first.

Sound returned. Choruses and cheers.

His teacher nodded. “Changmin wins in speed. Jaejoong wins in accuracy.”

Changmin glanced at the yellow marks and saw that Jaejoong had centered them all almost perfectly.

“Again!”

Jaejoong smiled over at Changmin, leaning on his bow. “Elegant,” he mouthed.

Changmin smirked and mouthed back, “Beautiful.”

Jaejoong actually blushed, or it was the aftereffects of the competition, but he bit his lower lip and turned away from him.

Their competition lasted until the sun was almost gone and his teacher reminded him that it was near dinner time.

Changmin did not want to stop shooting, and by the smile on his face, neither did Jaejoong. Both bowed to the teacher and waved to the boys who had helped, before unstringing their bows and heading back into the castle.

“You are so very good,” Jaejoong said. “It took me almost half a century to learn what you have learned in just a few short years.”

Changmin glanced over at him. “Well, I practice every day, and I’m sure you were a lazy--”

“Keep talking and I’m going to claim my prize right here in the hallway.”

Changmin shut his mouth. And then he glared. “Your prize? I beat you today.”

Jaejoong smiled. “I was ahead by one point. Ask your teacher. I know he was keeping track.”

“So was I. And I beat you by two.”

“Do humans count differently than elves? I was ahead by one before the final match, and you missed a colored target!”

“I was ahead by five when I missed that target.” And he had missed that target during the single moment he’d taken his eyes from his bow and looked at Jaejoong, standing in perfect formation, the sun turning his hair golden, the light shimmering on his skin.

“We will agree to disagree that you are a cheater.”

Changmin opened his mouth to argue, but was interrupted.

“Will you be eating in the dining room, your highness?” Minho asked.

Changmin scowled at him, but nodded curtly. “Send Jaejoong to eat his scraps with the hogs.”

Jaejoong laughed, and Changmin turned away before he saw the smile on Minho’s face because punching your personal servant in the middle of a hallway was not exactly proper princely behavior.

He stalked into his bedroom, and practically chucked his bow this time, onto the soft surface of the chair. He winced when the wood smacked together, but did not stop and went straight to his closet. Again, he was aware of Jaejoong behind him. He shucked off his shirt and grabbed a blue tunic. He did not bother changing his pants or boots.

Jaejoong stood at the door. When Changmin attempted to go around him, Jaejoong put out his arm and blocked him in. He fought the urge to muscle his way by.

“Let me pass.”

Jaejoong smiled. “Let me apologize. I know you won. I was keeping count. I only meant to tease you.”

Changmin’s eyes narrowed. He felt a bit of shame for behaving so childishly when Jaejoong had not meant any harm, but he did not know when the other was only teasing or being serious.

“Your reward,” Jaejoong whispered and lifted his head.

Changmin inhaled, and then their lips brushed, and Changmin put his hands on Jaejoong’s shoulders and pushed him away.

Jaejoong pouted. “It is just a kiss.”

Changmin rolled his eyes and moved Jaejoong from the doorway. “You better hurry and dress. You do not want to be late for dinner.”

Jaejoong chuckled.

Changmin left his rooms and only went as far as the next hallway. He leaned against the wall and squeezed his eyes shut to get control of his body. His lips tingled. It had been nothing. Just enough to feel Jaejoong’s warm breath, memorize the way Jaejoong’s eyes had fluttered shut, the way his pale lips had darkened in the shadow of Changmin’s face.

It had been nothing.

He rubbed his lips fiercely and continued to walk to the dining room.

And still his lips tingled.


	4. The Binding Kiss

Life with Jaejoong nearby was not nearly as awkward as Changmin expected. The caustic edge to Jaejoong’s personality did not go away. He still belittled Changmin, laughed at him, punched him in the arm, insulted him, and beat him on the archery field and at sword fighting.

But he also touched him, leaned against him when he smiled, hugged him, smiled at him. They shared their meals in Changmin’s dining room. They shared their evenings in the library, curled up together on the same couch. They trained together: running, archery, sword fighting, and horseback riding.

Jaejoong praised him just as often as he insulted him.

It bothered Changmin less and less. He learned quickly that Jaejoong enjoyed teasing him, and he no longer took the insults personally, just shot them right back. It was very easy to return the insults. And the smiles. And the touches. It was all too easy to return the touches. Especially on his neck or shoulder.

But not the kisses. Jaejoong tried, pouted when Changmin refused him, and then tried again.

Three weeks disappeared, and the gossip around the castle exploded. Why was the elf here? Why did the prince allow the elf to stay within his rooms and touch him so much? Were they courting each other? What kind of madness allowed the royals to agree to such a sinful wedding? The elves did not mind, but Changmin was a human, a good heir, well-behaved. Surely, he would never sink to the level of depravity that an elf did.

Changmin agreed. Mostly. Except for the fact that he had constantly had affairs with members of the male staff, Minho and some of his friends that did not mind allowing Changmin to touch, kiss and sleep with them.

Logically, he knew that he would succumb to Jaejoong’s teasing touches because he had always been attracted to him anyway. Honestly, he was surprised he had lasted so long.

It was very hard to refuse Jaejoong’s advances.

He wondered if he really had to.

Most mornings found Changmin by the window, watching the sunrise because he was unable to sleep calmly. He constantly thought of Jaejoong. In his bed, near him, around him. Very frequently he brought himself to unsatisfying orgasms with the thought of the elf’s skin at his fingertips.

But theirs was not a romantic relationship and it never could be. Changmin had to marry a noble girl, sire an heir, provide for his kingdom. The thought terrified him. He wondered if his mother had someone in mind. He did not want to meet and court a girl. He much preferred something arranged. He would ask. Definitely soon.

A loud noise from the other room drew his attention, and Changmin frowned and headed that way. There was another thump and painful cry, and Changmin hurried, flinging the door open to Jaejoong’s room. He scanned the room and saw just a hand on the other side of the bed. It was shaking.

“Jaejoong!” Changmin shouted and ran around the bed. He fell to his knees, next to Jaejoong’s body.

He said the elf’s name again.

Jaejoong whimpered and reached for him.

Changmin did not touch him, not at first, checking for injuries, but nothing was broken, nothing was bleeding.

The curse mark was throbbing, like a visible pulse.

Changmin hooked his hands at Jaejoong’s knees and around his shoulders and heaved him back up on the bed.

Jaejoong moaned and gripped his arm. “Hurts. Changmin-ah. Hurts.”

Changmin hushed him softly and touched the curse mark. As soon as his fingers made contact, the throbbing stopped and Jaejoong whimpered in relief.

“It’s been ... hurting,” Jaejoong managed, voice hoarse. “In the mornings, until I see you. But not ... not this bad.”

“How come it is getting worse?” Changmin demanded. “You’ve been here, by me, for weeks now.”

Jaejoong smiled and his eyes opened. “That is why. It is a greedy curse, Changmin-ah. At first, it was happy being in the same area as you. When I visited the castle, or we were at the same party or function. And then it needed more and more. It was not enough, so I came here, and now ... now it seems it is not enough that you are only nearby. At least ... not at night.”

Changmin understood. During the day, Jaejoong touched him frequently.

“It already feels much better,” Jaejoong said but moved closer to Changmin anyway.

Changmin nodded and let Jaejoong settle his head upon his upper arm. Jaejoong curled into his body and Changmin put his other arm around his waist.

“You should have told me the pain was worsening,” Changmin whispered into his soft hair.

Jaejoong shook his head. “You already do so much for me.”

“But if you can’t sleep ...”

Jaejoong shook his head again. “It’s fine.”

“Finding you mostly passed out by your bed is not fine.”

Jaejoong pulled his head back, eyes clear of pain, and he smirked. “Are you suggesting we share a bed, Prince Changmin?”

Changmin huffed. He wanted to, very much, but he ... “If it alleviates your pain, then yes. I do not want you to be in pain.”

Jaejoong smiled and returned to his snuggle spot against Changmin’s body. “Such a grand excuse to have me close to you.”

Changmin did not follow that with his normal objection.

Jaejoong chuckled.

With the sky still dark and Jaejoong relaxed against him, it was easy to pull the blankets over their bodies and fall asleep for a few hours.

When Minho woke him with the sun rising in the windows, he did not seem surprised to see them in the same bed. Changmin pretended there was nothing wrong with it, just slowly rousing Jaejoong with fingers brushing over his neck and cheek.

Jaejoong’s eyes fluttered open and he smiled. His arms went over his head and he stretched, body arching off the bed. He wore only light pants, currently tented with an erection, and Changmin ran his hand down Jaejoong’s chest without really realizing it. The scrolls of ink on his back were missing on his front, save for a single, orange leaf between his nipple and stomach that looked like it was falling from a tree.

“You keep touching me and I’m going to think you want me to get rid of that erection for you.”

Changmin flushed, yanked his hand away, and turned. He sat up and was scooting to the other side of the bed when Jaejoong wrapped his arms around his middle. His laughter was muffled on Changmin’s back, the skin warming from his breath.

“Do you have to go?” Jaejoong said.

Changmin looked back at him with a questioning eyebrow raised.

“I mean ... you’re a prince. Do you ever take advantage of that and just stay in bed all day?”

“That is a good way to start a bad habit.”

Jaejoong laughed and then winced. “Please.”

“Are you hurting?”

“A headache, a residual effect from the curse, but that’s it. I’ll be tired or nauseous all day. It happens when the pain is really bad.”

“What will help?”

“You, not getting up, a bath, some coffee, a massage, and an orgasm.”

Changmin blushed but held eye contact. “In that order?”

“No. I’ll take an orgasm anytime you want to give me one.”

Changmin cleared his throat. “How about a bath first?”

“Of course. With you?”

Changmin swallowed and shut his eyes. “Of c-course.”

Jaejoong made a happy noise.

“But only to make sure you don’t slip and fall and hurt yourself.”

“I should be insulted, but I’m too excited to see you naked.”

Changmin finally pulled away from his arms and stood up. He attempted to cover his blush and hide his erection but he knew he failed at both. Minho was in the sitting room, putting out fruit and coffee for breakfast. He told Minho that he and Jaejoong were taking the day off, that Jaejoong was too sick to do much, and that Changmin had to stay with him. He wanted to ask why, Changmin knew, but he did not. Changmin made sure that Minho went to tell his mother after he ordered a bath to be prepared. He took the tray of fruit and coffee back to Jaejoong’s bed.

The elf lay curled on his side, tattooed back to Changmin. He was shaking, gripping a pillow. Changmin hurried to place the tray on the side chest and then sat next to him.

“Still in pain?”

Jaejoong nodded. “A bit.”

“Do you want some fruit? Coffee?”

“A kiss.”

Changmin rolled his eyes. “Fruit?”

“Fine.”

Jaejoong rolled on his back and opened his mouth. Changmin chuckled and used his fingers to feed them both the sweet berries and tart grapes and pieces of melon. He sat up to drink the coffee, and Changmin noted that his skin was back to its normal pale instead of ashen gray.

“Let’s go take a bath,” Changmin said and finished off his cup of coffee. He stood up and ignored the hand on his side, fingers teasing the band of his pants. He turned and held out his hand for Jaejoong, who took it with a smile.

Changmin led him into the bathing room, and he harshly dismissed the maids. He was very annoyed with their presence, but his mother would not let him remove them completely. As soon as the last one bowed her way out, Jaejoong went to the large metal tub. Steam rose from the surface. He traced his hand through the water and smiled over at Changmin.

“All right. Naked. Now.” He followed his own order, easily slipping the thin pants from his body.

Changmin squeezed his eyes shut, chest rising and falling with heavy breaths of tight control. He waited to hear Jaejoong climb in the tub.

Instead, hands ran over his shoulders and up into his hair.

Changmin tried to jerk back and got a sharp pull on his scalp for his efforts.

“Why are you trying so hard to resist me?” Jaejoong whispered.

“It is forbidden,” Changmin said immediately.

“Of course. But you obviously find me attractive.”

“Of course. You are persistent.”

Jaejoong smiled. “Of course. You want to kiss me.”

Changmin shook his head, hands fists at his side. “I ... of course. You are ... I cannot, please, I cannot.”

Jaejoong tilted his head and licked his lips, and Changmin moaned and shut his eyes again. His own thin pants fell to the ground, pushed by Jaejoong’s hands, and then he stepped closer, bodies together, the touch of skin on his erection, the feel of body heat, and then hands, gripping his ass. Lips touched his chin. Soft kisses trailed up to his mouth.

“Of course. But if you cannot, then can I?”

Teasing licks brushed over his lower lip.

Changmin whimpered and wrapped his arms around Jaejoong’s small waist, pulling them together. He buried his face in Jaejoong’s neck, face at the dark binding curse, and then his mouth was on it, lips and tongue following the slightly raised skin. He held him tightly with one arm about his waist and the other went to his hair, sliding into the soft blond strands.

“I cannot,” Changmin gasped into his ear. “Please, I cannot.”

Jaejoong hummed in amusement. “Such great self-control. But I want you, Changmin-ah. I want you to kiss me and I want you to touch me, and if I may be crude, I want you to slam me against the floor and fuck me until I’m screaming.”

Changmin shivered. “I ... I ...”

Jaejoong pulled away and smiled at him. He turned and then slipped from Changmin’s hold. His beautiful, perfect body swayed to the tub. Light and shadows caught on the designs on his back, and Changmin stood still, watching, unable to turn away, unable to move as Jaejoong stepped into the large tub and sank into the heated water. He sighed in relief and then did nothing else.

Changmin was shaking. His cock burned an angry red, throbbing at being denied Jaejoong’s body, Jaejoong’s touch.

Jaejoong suddenly smiled over at him and held out his hand in invitation. “A bath, your highness.”

Changmin had to take a few deep breaths before he managed to move to the tub. Jaejoong shifted forward, giving Changmin space to climb in behind him. As soon as he was in the hot water, Jaejoong was pressed against him, head resting on his shoulder. The water smelled of flowers and something spicy. But it was Jaejoong who had his attention. The clear water did not hide his skin or his body from Changmin’s eyes, and he gripped the edge of the tub to keep from touching.

Jaejoong slid his fingertips over Changmin’s hands and forearms, dripping water onto his skin and to the floor.

“When we are touching,” Jaejoong said, “when we are so close, there is this ... feeling ... I guess ... it is hard to describe, but it feels like my blood is singing, spinning and twirling in a breeze, jumping and laughing with pure joy. I ... I am just so happy. Most of me understands that it is the binding curse being satisfied, but I cannot separate that and my own feelings. I’ve lived with this curse for so long that it has taken over my blood, my heart, my mind. I cannot ... I can only live to appease it.” He turned around in the water, sloshing some over the side. He ended up on his knees, between Changmin’s bent legs, and his fingers went to Changmin’s knees and then up and down Changmin’s thighs, under the water. “I definitely do not want the curse to be the only reason that you touch me. I can tell you that it hurts unless you do, but that is a lie. I just want you, Changmin-ah. The last few weeks ...”

Changmin let go of the tub and sat up, arms going around Jaejoong’s shoulders. “I cannot. I just ... I have, in the past, with men, but I ... must marry. I must. I cannot ... there are already enough rumors between us. My reputation is already sullied, and the maids in this bathing room will add to that.”

Changmin shut himself up.

They were only excuses to keep him from what he really wanted. And here in the tub with this beautiful elf, he had to take what he wanted. He curled his hands around Jaejoong’s face and leaned forward to kiss him.

Jaejoong met him with an eager whimper, his own hands slid around Changmin’s back.

It was just a press of lips. Maybe two, and then a third or fourth. He pulled Jaejoong close, skin slipping until Jaejoong was pressed against him and they shifted, bodies deeper in the water. Changmin kept a hand in his hair, pulling on it for the best angle to shove his tongue into Jaejoong’s mouth. And Jaejoong shifted, body sliding over his, and his hip pushing against Changmin’s erection.

Changmin ran his other hand down his back, to his ass, gripping tight, keeping them pressed together with sliding skin in the water. Jaejoong moved with him, moans slipping through their heavy kiss. Water splashed onto the floor.

Jaejoong suddenly cried out and pulled away, hand on his neck.

Concerned, Changmin followed him up, fingers light on his arm and face. “It hurts?”

Jaejoong shook his head. “No, it’s ... it’s different. It’s ... like that moment, before ... release, but just all over, and it does hurt, but not ...”

Changmin moved his hand, slid his fingers down Jaejoong’s taut stomach and curled them around his erection. Jaejoong cried out, hips jerking into the touch.

“Wait ... I ...” Jaejoong’s eyes were desperate, his mouth open, licking his lip. “I don’t ... I don’t want ...”

Changmin pried Jaejoong’s hand away from his neck and replaced it with his face, with his lips. He sped up his strokes, and Jaejoong fell into him, arms around his waist. Changmin sucked on his skin, traced the lines of the binding curse with his tongue. The sounds of Jaejoong’s moans covered up the splashing water from Changmin’s movements. He stroked quickly, tightly. He was unsure if the curse mark was throbbing or if that was his own head, skin, erection.

Jaejoong shuddered violently, whimpered in relief and disbelief. His body quaked through his pleasure, and he whimpered Changmin’s name. His cock suddenly throbbed and jerked, and Changmin moved his mouth to his ear.

“Come, beautiful elf,” he whispered. “I want you to come.”

Jaejoong turned his head and slammed their lips together. He gripped Changmin’s hair again and moved, dislodging Changmin’s hand, but he was pressed tight against his chest a moment later, rutting against him, and then screaming and shaking. He grunted, the noise half cut off in his throat, and then he was shuddering and releasing his orgasm between them. He sagged against Changmin’s body with a cry and then lay quivering at the pleasure in his body.

Changmin ran his hands up and down Jaejoong’s back. Whimpers echoed through the room, and Changmin frowned in concern. He lifted Jaejoong’s face from his chest and wiped away tears on his cheeks. He did not ask, and Jaejoong took a deep breath. His eyes opened and he leaned forward for a long kiss of lips and tongue.

“I don’t want you to touch me just because of the curse,” Jaejoong finally said, voice quiet.

Changmin shook his head and kissed him softly. “Of course. I do not want you to touch me just because of the curse,” he repeated.

Jaejoong smiled and curled back against his chest. “Of course.”


	5. The Binding Book

The water cooled before Changmin reluctantly stopped touching Jaejoong’s skin with just his hands and grabbed a washcloth. He used a soft, distracted touch to wash Jaejoong’s skin, head to toe, and then did not protest when Jaejoong wished to do the same. Changmin’s erection throbbed with the touches, but he did not want to demand satisfaction. They were very quiet through the rest of the bath, only exchanging small kisses between smiles. They dried each other off, and Changmin wrapped Jaejoong in his best robe, not putting one on himself. Like that, with Jaejoong in front of him, and Changmin’s arms around his waist, they left the bathing room, and went to Changmin’s bedroom.

It was thankfully deserted, and Changmin led Jaejoong to the bed. Jaejoong climbed in and moaned with a smile. “Your bed is so comfortable.”

Changmin smirked. “Well, I am the prince.” He leaned down and pressed a kiss to Jaejoong’s lips. “I’ll be right back.”

Jaejoong pouted, and when he tried to grab him, Changmin twisted away and went back toward the bathing room.

“That’s okay,” Jaejoong said. “This is a very nice show.”

Changmin smirked over his shoulder and smacked his own ass. Jaejoong laughed, and was still giggling when Changmin returned from the bathroom with a pot of soothing oil.

“Ooh, I like this show more,” Jaejoong said and propped up on an elbow. He licked his lips, eyes on Changmin’s bobbing cock.

Changmin snorted. “On your stomach.”

Jaejoong made a face.

Changmin held up the oil. “I remember you demanding a massage.”

Jaejoong smiled and quickly twisted to his stomach and discarded the robe.

“Though I do have an ulterior motive,” Changmin said, climbing over Jaejoong’s legs.

Jaejoong hummed and lifted his ass. “You’re going to fuck me.”

Changmin fought back a wave of lust and spanked Jaejoong with a sharp slap, though that did not help curb the lust. “No. I am going to examine your tattoos. I’ve wanted to ever since the first time I saw them.”

“And then you’ll fuck me.”

Changmin chuckled. “Maybe.” He poured the oil onto Jaejoong’s painted skin and began spreading it around, digging his palms and fingers into Jaejoong’s strong muscles.

On the left side of his back, from shoulders to hip, were vines, tattooed into his skin with greens and browns. In a few places, bright red and pink flowers burst from the green. The vines spread around his right shoulder, too, with a few curling over the curve of muscle to almost his collarbone. On the right side under the vines, from just below his shoulder blade and down to his ass was a picture of the sun, its rays bursting through clouds. The colors of the sun blended from the brightest of yellows to soft oranges. Hints of blue peeked between white billowy clouds.

“What do they mean?” Changmin asked a few minutes into the massage.

Jaejoong turned his head so his mouth was no longer pressed into the pillows. He moaned and Changmin concentrated his massage on a tight muscle next to his ribs.

“The vine,” Jaejoong said, voice deep. “It was the first physical skill I conquered.”

Changmin remembered, the first time he had been to the Elven Kingdom, being awed at how easily and daringly the elves soared through the air. The elves frequently traveled by vine, swinging between the giant trees that made up their castle and city.

“When we are young, we are practically thrown from a cliff with a vine in our grip. I am one of a few elves that has never fallen from the vine. I was swinging from them before I even learned to ride on horseback.”

“And the sun,” Changmin said, moving his massage there.

“Each elf channels magical energy from a different source. Some from the plants, the trees, the water, the air. I channel mine through sunlight.”

Changmin thought about that and then asked carefully, “Do you think I could be taught magic?”

He felt and saw Jaejoong stiffen, and then he said, “I thought you said you were not a warlock.”

“Any human that can do magic is automatically a warlock?”

“Yes. Warlocks are humans who use nefarious methods for magic because they cannot use natural things for them. In order for you to use magic, you would have to learn sacrifice and spells.”

Changmin wanted to argue if only because sometimes he felt like there was energy flowing through him that did not feel natural. He had abilities that were not like normal humans. There were many reasons to think that he could be taught, but he did not want to have to do evil things to harness them.

“Why do you have a leaf on your stomach?” Changmin asked.

“Because life is fragile.”

“Even a life like yours?”

Jaejoong smiled. “Elves are not immortal; we only age slowly and we do not succumb to sickness like humans do. We can easily be killed by a sword, by a fall from the vines, by an arrow, just like a human.”

Changmin had run out of muscles to massage. He lightened his touches and traced all the vines and sunrays with his fingertips.

“Do I get fucked now?” Jaejoong asked.

Changmin flushed but shook his head. “I do not want to fuck you because there is a binding curse upon your neck.”

Jaejoong smiled. “Then don’t. Fuck me because you want to.”

“I must marry.”

“And yet you...”

Changmin growled and crawled away from him. “This is already too complicated.” He sat on the edge of the bed. “I must marry a woman, and yet you are going to share my bed because of that curse.”

“I will go away.”

“No!” Changmin said, eyes flashing.

Jaejoong stared at him impassively.

“I cannot send you away,” Changmin whispered. “How could I do that and know that you are in pain because you aren’t near me? I am not cruel. I ... I could never do that to anyone.” He lowered his head. “I have kept my affairs very quiet, with those who have more to lose than me if we were found out. But this ... between us. I cannot ...” He met Jaejoong’s eyes again. “I cannot fall in love with you.”

“Is that what you’re afraid of?”

“Afraid?” Changmin smiled. “Definitely not. I am not afraid of something that ...” He broke off and sighed.

“What are you afraid of?”

Changmin cleared his throat. “Failing.”

“I have never seen you fail at anything.”

Changmin shook his head, stood up, and moved from the bedroom to his closet. His normal outfit for the day hung upon the rack. He bypassed it and slipped on a pair of loose trousers. He did not put on a shirt. He ignored the elf on his bed and went into the sitting room.

On a table was a tray of breads, cheeses, and vegetables. And a note, from his mother.

_My Darling,  
Take good care of your elf today.  
Pay no attention to the rumors of the court and, as I have always told you, do whatever makes you happy.  
I wish to see you both in the morning. You will join me in the family dining room for breakfast.  
With all my love,  
Mama_

Changmin smiled, and then swallowed roughly, eyes stinging with tears. He doubted his mother would be saying such things if she knew that whatever made him happy at this point in his life was forsaking the throne and living forever with Jaejoong.

Forever. It seemed like such a short time.

Changmin sat in a chair and attempted to write a reply to his mother, but his hand was shaking too much.

“Here,” Jaejoong said and held out an old book. A very old book.

Changmin looked up at him. Jaejoong had pulled on the robe, and that was all. He pried his eyes away from the short hem, that hit at Jaejoong’s midthigh, to the way the robe gaped over his chest, barely held closed by its sash.

He swallowed, ignored Jaejoong’s smirk, and asked, “What is it?”

“Um, it’s a book.”

Changmin glared at him.

With a grin, Jaejoong said, “Your answers, about some things anyway.”

Jaejoong sat on the floor at Changmin’s feet. He made a happy noise at the vegetables on the tray and started eating.

Changmin stared at him, on the floor, and then at the book in his hands.

It was weird. He felt dirty touching it. Unclean. He wanted to put it down right away, and he was on his way to do that when the faded title caught his attention.

_Binding Spells_

“What ... what is this?” Changmin demanded.

“Again. It’s a book.”

“Jaejoong.”

“It’s a warlock’s spellbook.”

Changmin made a face.

“Read it. It explains what this curse upon my body is and what it makes me do. Which will also explain to you how to satisfy it or how to use it against me.”

“I would never do that!”

Jaejoong smiled up at him. “I know. Read.”

Changmin held the spine of the book carefully in one hand and used his other to open the thick cover. The first page had a picture of a heart on it. Anatomically correct. Changmin hurried to the next page. The parchment was thick, still brittle, delicate. He decided he most certainly did not want to know what the stains were upon its pages.

_The following pages rest upon the premise that you have been taught basic skills in sacrifice and magic. These spells are permanent and should be cast with the utmost care. Any spell requiring the magician’s blood should be done with caution. Any mistake can prove disastrous._

_Binding spells are for specific instances where control and possession are the only way to attain what you wish. This book is divided into three sections: Will, Future, and Blood._

_Spells of Will bind the magician to the subject’s present. Your will becomes theirs. Their thoughts are only of you. You control their present._

_Spells of Future bind the magician to the subject’s future. They may go about their lives without you near until the magician invokes the power. Even without being near, you can control the subject’s actions._

_Spells of Blood bind the magician to the subject’s body. Everything the subject experiences is held within your power. You can control pain and pleasure. These spells can be used to make the subject your slave._

Changmin pondered skipping to this last section but he was too intrigued. He continued reading the section about Spells of Will. Some were small, like love potions, made so when thoughts of love entered the mind, it was only the person who cast it that the dreamer imagined. Another was a will to help. When cast, it made the subject want to always help with the magician with whatever he wished. A more nefarious one had to do with money and work.

The ingredients fascinated him. Some only required a strand of hair from the subject, others required flakes of skin or a vial of blood. Various herbs mixed with three-day-old milk from a freshly killed cow. Organs removed from animals as they lived (the longer they lived without the organ the stronger the spell cast). Eyes, testicles, brains. And always, the magician’s blood.

“I love to watch you study,” Jaejoong said.

Changmin jumped in surprise and looked down at Jaejoong. He was still on the floor, cheek leaning against Changmin’s knee. His hand ran up and down his calf muscle.

“You give your entire attention to it, and it makes me crave for the day when that attention will be focused on me.”

“It has been,” Changmin said with a smirk. “But the point has always been on ways to exploit your weakness so I can best you at competitions.”

Jaejoong smiled. “I do need to apologize to you though.”

“Why?”

“Because I never thought you’d be so kind to me. I thought that you ... I never thought that you’d be helping me, touching me, by the gods, kissing me. I really thought that you would send me away.” He rubbed his cheek on Changmin’s knee. “I am very thankful that you did not, but I am very sorry that I ever thought ill of you.”

Changmin swallowed and put a hand on Jaejoong’s head, running his fingers through the blond hair for a moment. “If our positions were reversed, I would have thought the same of you.” He glanced at the page he was on in the book and closed it gently. The urge to fling it from him was strong, but not nearly as strong as the urge to learn more. He always wanted to learn more. He set the tome carefully on the table. It was important. But so was Jaejoong.

He stood up and held out both hands for Jaejoong. “Come on.”

“Where are we going?” He gripped both hands and let Changmin pull him to his feet. Changmin easily wrapped his arms around Jaejoong’s shoulders and his lips found the vines that curled up from his back.

“Somewhere that requires you to put on clothes.”

Jaejoong pouted. “Not fun.”

“Trust me.”

Jaejoong smiled, tilted his head up, and pressed a kiss to Changmin’s lips. “I do. Fancy dress?”

“No, you’re sick, remember? We’ll both dress casually.”

After one more kiss, Jaejoong reluctantly moved away from him. He picked up the spellbook and then went into his room. Changmin rubbed his face and went into the closet to put on a tunic. He chose a blue one with long sleeves. When he returned to the sitting room, he stopped and stared at Jaejoong.

Jaejoong stood by the big window, sunlight sparkling over his hair and skin and dancing upon the metal of the earrings in his pointed ears. He wore white pants, loose and wide-legged. They fell all the way to the floor. The top was just as loose, white sleeves over his hands, the front barely closed. The binding curse was hidden under magic, but the sweater scooped low on his neck showing off the top of the tattooed vines.

“I think the only thing I have ever envied is your beauty,” Changmin said.

Jaejoong smiled at him. “And I have always envied your handsomeness.” He walked over to Changmin. “Now, where are you taking me?”

“You’ll see.” He held out his arm, offering to escort him, something he’d never done in the past few weeks.

Jaejoong’s smile widened and he easily hooked his arm through Changmin’s as they headed out the door.


	6. The Binding Treat

They walked slowly, slippered feet quiet on the long rugs down the hallways of the castle. They paused every now and then for Jaejoong to ask a question about a painting or an artifact. Changmin studied his history and genealogy; he loved learning about the people that had come before him, the kings and queens and lords that made his kingdom strong and great. He mentioned a name sometimes, and Jaejoong nodded with a “ah, I remember him.” It felt a bit heady to remember how very old Jaejoong was.

“Your family has such a lovely castle,” Jaejoong mused. “It is the same brick and mortar of the previous kings but your mother has such a grand eye for decor.”

“She sees beauty in everything,” Changmin said. “I learned that from her.” He moved his arm from Jaejoong’s and draped it around his shoulders instead.

Jaejoong tilted his head up with a questioning look.

Changmin grinned. “You are unwell, Elf Prince,” he said. “I am only offering my body for you to lean against.”

Jaejoong chuckled and put both arms around Changmin’s waist as they continued their stroll. “Are you going to tell me where we are going yet?”

“We’re almost there.”

Changmin fought the urge to kiss the crown of Jaejoong’s head. His hair was so soft, and smelled of the forests of his family.

His family.

Changmin cleared his throat. “I do not expect ... you do not have to stay here,” he said softly. “What I mean is, we can go to your kingdom too.”

He felt Jaejoong's smile. Felt it in his heart, in his soul. It was strange. He could not see his face, nor was it pressed to Changmin’s chest. But he knew the elf was smiling.

“Maybe in a few months,” Jaejoong said. “Your people need to be used to the idea of us before we suddenly go away.”

Changmin did agree with that. His people were going to be very angry.

He turned down a hallway and then slipped through an even smaller one, Jaejoong just behind him. Their hands linked together since it was too narrow to walk side by side. It had been a long time since he’d used the servants’ corridors, but he knew the way. Down a steep set of stairs and then through another doorway. The air around them grew warmer.

After just another hallway, Changmin slipped into an opened door and into the kitchens. The warmth spread through their thin clothes. The fires burned hot, pots boiling, meats simmering. Changmin learned at an early age that the kitchens never stopped. There was always something cooking, always someone working, always food and smells and comfort.

“Shim Changmin!” a voice shouted and a stout woman rumbled over, a wooden spoon high in the air.

Changmin laughed and dodged the swing at his ass and then put a table between him and Eunjin.

“You are still young enough for me to swat at your ass, boy,” she said, waving the spoon.

Jaejoong gasped at the language, but Changmin only laughed harder.

The woman turned her attention to Jaejoong. “I thought he was sick.”

“He is,” Changmin said, moving back over to him, “but he wanted to walk around, and well, I’m sure you still have some cake or cookies somewhere. Please, Jin-jin-noona.”

“Greedy brat,” the woman said with a reluctant smile. “Always could eat more than your weight in sweets.”

Changmin laughed.

“Go sit down, boy. I’ll bring you two a treat.”

Changmin motioned Jaejoong over to a high table. On top of the table were cuts of fruit and pieces of bread, not the ones served to the royal family or nobles, but the leftovers. Changmin found a slab of bread and a few pieces of berries and apples. He put them together and took a bite before offering it to Jaejoong.

Jaejoong smiled widely and did not use his hands to eat the treat.

Changmin flushed at the wave of lust coursing through him. He hoped the color on his cheeks was hidden by the fires and the heat around them.

Eunjin lumbered back to their table, a tray piled with something that looked delicious. Changmin rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

“Eat,” she said. “You boys are too skinny. It is why you fall ill so easily.”

The tray was full of round balls of dough, fried and then covered in sweets: chocolate, sugar and cinnamon, and dried apples and nuts. Changmin picked up a chocolate one, smiling as he took a bite. Chocolate dripped from his fingers and lips.

Jaejoong chuckled. “A good way to start a bad habit.”

Changmin sneered at him with eyes dancing with laughter. He felt chocolate on his lips and chin.

“So very elegant, your highness.”

“Fuck you,” Changmin muttered around another bite, using the obscene language of the peasants.

He laughed harder and then took Changmin’s wrist and pulled the dessert over to his own mouth. He took a bite and moaned. “So good,” he said around the food.

Eunjin returned with a jug of cool milk, a rare treat. Milk was used for cooking, not for drinking. Except for Changmin, who was always able to wheedle a cup or goblet full of the sweet drink. She tossed two forks onto the table with a grumble of, “Be civilised, you oaf of a prince,” and then left them to their food.

“If we were in your rooms, I’d be feeding this to you with my fingers,” Changmin said and used a fork to cut into the apple and nut dessert.

Jaejoong smiled. “If we were in your rooms, I’d be licking chocolate sauce off your body.”

Changmin shivered, causing Jaejoong to laugh harder.

The rest of their conversation was innocent, exploits of Changmin wandering the halls at night, coming to the kitchens whenever he wanted. Jaejoong laughed at all the stories Changmin told of being caught and brought before his mother and father for sneaking around in places he did not belong. But each experience brought Changmin closer to the staff. He knew them all by name, he knew about their families. He knew how important the servants and maids were to the running of his castle. He did his best not to take them for granted, but he felt like he did not appreciate them enough.

After their treat, Changmin led Jaejoong, not back to their rooms, but up, again through servants hallways, all the way to the top of the highest tower. A pair of guards were there, keeping watch for raiders or unannounced visitors. They bowed to both of the princes, and then went back to their duties. Just beyond their sight, Changmin led Jaejoong up a steep set of stairs and to a small square of a stones. It was almost like a porch, high above everything else. To the north were the snow-capped mountains. To the south and east, the dark green trees of the forest and the elven territory. And everywhere else were the rolling hills and flat plains of Changmin’s kingdom.

The wind tossed their clothes and hair, bringing with it the smell of rain and the harvest. Soon the colors of the trees would turn to golds and oranges and reds and then snow would fall upon his lands.

Jaejoong stood at the stone railing, head tilted back. Sunlight bathed over his skin. He smiled widely, eyes shut and arms spread. His clothes billowed in the strong wind.

Changmin watched for a moment and then moved up behind him, arms around his waist. He pressed his face to the side of his neck and found the hidden, raised lines of the curse with his tongue. Jaejoong gripped his arms and sagged into his hold.

“That feels so good,” Jaejoong whispered. “So very good.”

Changmin slid one hand down the front of Jaejoong’s body, cupping his cock through the thin, white pants.

Jaejoong gasped, hips jerking into the touch. “Command me to throw myself from this tower and I will obey.”

Changmin chuckled. “I have a much better idea,” he said and spun to the side. He sat on the stone ledge and pulled Jaejoong between his legs, hands on his ass. He smiled up at him and did not protest when Jaejoong cupped his cheeks and leaned down for a heavy kiss.

He focused beyond Jaejoong’s mouth, beyond the way their lips aligned, the slide of tongues into mouths, beyond the way his hands slid under Jaejoong’s tunic, along soft skin. He focused on his blood, on his mind, on his heart. His blood pumped faster, opposite to the calm he attempted when shooting an arrow. His mind focused on the elf in his arms, on the way they fit together, on the way they breathed together. His heart ... he had always held passion for Jaejoong. Always saw him and admired him. That was not new. But knowing that Jaejoong felt the same, knowing Jaejoong ached for his friendship. Those things were new.

Changmin had watched Jaejoong as a competitor watched his rival, with an eye for weakness. And now he watched and held Jaejoong the way he had always hoped to hold a lover. There was worry and concern for his well being, but also greed and lust and desire for his touch, his skin, his mouth.

The first was not because of the curse. It was not because Changmin had not been aware of it.

But the second ... was it because of the curse? Did it even matter if it was? His blood throbbed in his veins, but it was the same as when he was with any other partner. Maybe a bit stronger, a bit more passionate. But the lust rolled through him, the need to keep him near. Maybe this was not the curse, but just his own feelings for the elf, his own desire and need. He had never felt this before because he had never done more than satisfy a carnal need with the men he had bedded before.

Jaejoong was so much more than a mutual romp under the blankets. He had always been much more than that.

Jaejoong had said he lived with the curse for so long that it was a part of him. The blood that called Jaejoong to him had been part of Changmin for his whole life. He was no different than he had always been. Neither was the elf in his arms. The only difference was that they were kissing instead of arguing, touching instead of treating each other with cool civility.

And Changmin loved kissing Jaejoong.

Changmin pulled away with a smile. Jaejoong’s face was flushed, lips bright red.

“How daring are you?” Changmin whispered.

Jaejoong eyes sparkled with mischief. “Depends on what you have in mind.”

Changmin leaned back, hands on the stone. He spread his legs. “You owe me an orgasm.”

Jaejoong laughed. “Do I?”

“Of course. You do remember the orgasm I gave you in the tub.”

Jaejoong slid his hands down Changmin’s chest as he went down to his knees. “Of course. And would you like this orgasm with my hands or my mouth?”

“Both.”

“Of course,” Jaejoong murmured before lowering his head and rubbing his face on Changmin’s crotch. He moaned, and Changmin echoed the noise, head tilted back.

“Are you going to be able to be quiet, your highness?” Jaejoong asked while loosening the laces on his pants.

Changmin smirked. “Probably not.”

Jaejoong lifted his hands and shut his eyes. He smiled and then spun both hands, just at his wrists. The air swirled and thickened around them, and then Jaejoong opened his eyes. “There we go. A sound dampener. It won’t stop noise completely, but it should be effective enough to keep the guards from knowing that I am going to let you fuck my mouth.”

Changmin shivered. “Get to it then.”

Jaejoong pulled at his pants, just enough to reach Changmin’s bare cock. He played with it, both hands, up and down the shaft, fingers cupping his balls. Changmin tilted his head back with a moan.

“Are you sure you’re ready for this?” Jaejoong asked.

Changmin opened an eye and lifted an eyebrow.

Jaejoong chuckled and leaned forward. He lapped at the slit of Changmin’s cock. “I just mean that I am very, very good at this, and you may end up addicted to my mouth.”

“Arrogance.”

“Truth.”

“Prove it.”

Jaejoong chuckled, lips against the soft head of Changmin’s erection. He kept his tongue pressed at the ridge and then opened his mouth. Changmin moved one hand to his hair, fingers gentle, as Jaejoong let the crown and then half of the shaft into his throat. Changmin did not bother to smother his moans. He wanted Jaejoong to understand how much he liked it, liked his mouth, liked Jaejoong on his knees.

Jaejoong’s hand moved away from the shaft. He shifted, ran his hands up and down Changmin’s thighs, and then bobbed his head, pressed his face almost against Changmin’s body, took his cock deep and sucked.

Changmin moaned even louder. He tried to sag further, but the stone wall wasn’t exactly the safest or most comfortable place. Gripping Jaejoong’s hair, he held on tight and let Jaejoong suck his soul out of his dick.

That is what it felt like.

The other men he had been with had satisfied a physical need.

But the need, heat, desire and power he felt with Jaejoong were so very different. Was Jaejoong just that good at sucking cock? Was it the curse? Maybe. Changmin did not care.

“Beautiful, fuck, Jaejoong, so beautiful.”

Jaejoong sighed through his nose and then sped up. He tugged on Changmin’s balls and moaned around the thick cock in his throat.

Changmin cried out. He did not want to come yet. He wanted Jaejoong’s mouth on his dick for hours. He wanted the heat and the sensations all over his body. With them naked, with them pressed against each other. He wanted to see if Jaejoong’s ass was as orgasm-inducing as his throat.

“Jaejoong-ah, going to come.”

Jaejoong whimpered, but it sounded too eager, too soft, too ... innocent? Changmin’s brain fogged over, his hearing went as muffled as the spell around them. He curled around Jaejoong, just enough, and used the grip on his hair to fuck up into his mouth. He may have shouted Jaejoong’s name. He may have only just screamed, but he moaned through his release, orgasm teasing him in long pulses of pleasure, before he finally came, and Jaejoong sucked and swallowed his release. Changmin shuddered through each pulse and then quivered at the sensitive slide of Jaejoong’s tongue on his shaft and back to the slit of his cock.

Changmin pulled him up, suddenly, harshly, and their mouths slammed together. Changmin wrapped his arms around Jaejoong’s waist and kissed the taste of him from Jaejoong’s mouth. He swallowed the last few dredges of his own come and then gripped Jaejoong’s ass.

Jaejoong relaxed against him, hands on his shoulders. His cock was hard in the thin white pants. Changmin was tempted to grab it, but he wanted the next orgasm they both had to be in a bed, preferably with Jaejoong’s legs wrapped around him and Changmin’s cock slamming into his ass.


	7. The Binding Spells

Once they had mostly calmed down and were able to actually stand up (and be presentable), Changmin led the way through the servant hallways and back to his room. Their room.

On the table in his sitting room was a bottle of the castle’s finest whiskey and a note from Minho.

_Thank me for knowing where everything is in this castle._

Changmin chuckled. “Do you want a drink?”

Jaejoong frowned. “I do, but I can still taste you in my mouth and I do not want that to go away.”

Changmin flushed. He popped open the bottle and poured very liberal shots into the two glasses provided. “I guess you’ll just have to get your mouth back on my dick then.”

Jaejoong laughed. “That is a great idea.”

Changmin handed Jaejoong a glass.

“A toast,” Jaejoong said.

“To what?”

“To binding curses,” Jaejoong said, eyes dancing with laughter.

Changmin chuckled and clinked their glasses together. “To binding curses.”

They knocked back the alcohol. It burned down Changmin’s throat a bit. Jaejoong hummed in appreciation.

“Do you know what I want to do right now?” Changmin asked.

Jaejoong smirked and licked his lips. “I can guess.”

Changmin ignored the lust that shot through him. “I want to take a nap.”

“Really?”

Changmin nodded. “I have not been sleeping well, and I do not have to do anything else today. Nothing but be with you, and I want to sleep next to you and hold you and just relax for a few hours.”

Jaejoong’s smile turned to a frown. “You have not been sleeping well?”

Changmin shook his head. “It’s all your fault.”

Jaejoong sighed. “The curse is affecting you too.”

Changmin shrugged. “Maybe, but that’s not what I mean. It’s your fault because I have spent the last few weeks wanting you, desiring you. It is very hard to sleep when stroking off is no longer enough of a release.”

Jaejoong laughed. “So let’s go fuck.”

Changmin shook his head. “I want to take a nap. In my bed. With you in my arms.”

Jaejoong set the glass on the table and he nodded. “Then a fuck.”

“Probably.”

With a laugh, Jaejoong turned around and went into the bedroom. Changmin put his own glass on the table and followed him. Jaejoong began singing, the noise easily carrying from his room. Changmin closed all the drapes in his room, turning the bright afternoon light into a shadowy haven to share with his ... lover? slave? friend?

He was not sure what to call Jaejoong just yet. He shucked off all his clothes, slipped on some sleep pants, and climbed into the bed. It was so easy to shut his eyes and relax. A moment later the bed dipped and a very naked Jaejoong climbed into bed next to him. Changmin pulled him close, arms wrapped around him, fingers of one hand trailing up and down his tattooed back.

“So good,” Changmin whispered.

Jaejoong hummed in agreement.

Changmin kissed him again, a bit longer, a bit firmer. His tongue slipped along Jaejoong’s lips, and Jaejoong met the touch with his own. Changmin shifted until they were both comfortable and pressed together and still able to kiss one another.

“Sleep, my elf,” Changmin whispered against his lips. “Just for a little while, and then we will see how good you are at taking my cock.”

“Fuck you,” Jaejoong mumbled and turned around, back to Changmin.

Changmin laughed and spooned against him, arm around his waist, lips at the tattooed vines on his shoulder. He took a few deep breaths and let himself relax.

\---

Changmin woke up before his beautiful elf. He watched Jaejoong sleep, trailing his hand along the skin of his neck. The spell that hid the binding curse was fading. The lines appeared as a light gray.

Staring at the curse, his curiosity about the book renewed. Changmin carefully rose from the bed. He made sure Jaejoong had not woken up and then went into the elf’s room. The book was nowhere that he could see, and it made sense that it was hidden. He frowned and turned to leave the room, but thought that searching a few places would be okay. He went to the bed first, looking under the pillow, though that seemed a silly place to hide something. Maybe in the bedside chest. He opened the lid and saw the book sitting right on top. There were other things in there too, but Changmin did not want to rummage around in Jaejoong’s personal things without an invitation.

He went back to the bed. Jaejoong had curled up with his pillow. Chuckling, Changmin pried it from his grip. He used a few pillows to prop himself up against the headboard. Jaejoong rearranged around his lap, legs curled around his thigh, face pressed against his hip.

Changmin opened the book to the last page he had read. He had gotten through the Spells of Will and next were the Spells of the Future. He scanned them, pausing to read the more interesting spells: one about causing the subject to committ suicide or murder long after meeting with the warlock to keep suspicion off the warlock and another about causing the subject’s cursed blood to be passed on to their children, giving the warlock power and control over their future too.

As Changmin read, he understood why the Warlock Wars had happened. With power such as this, only the elves could have stopped them. Only the elves, with their natural magic of light and good, would have been strong enough to fight such magic of dark and evil.

The final section, Spells of Blood, was by far the largest. Changmin turned through the pages quickly and saw that it was only the thickest section because the few spells inside were much more complicated than that others. There were only seven Spells of Blood, but each one had at least a page of ingredients and another page of procedures, followed by a few pages of warnings and possible consequences of each spell.

 _A strong word of caution,_ the introduction read, _The following spells are not to be used lightly. These spells cannot be hidden or brushed away as normal behavior unlike the spells of Will and Future. These spells will turn the subject into your slave in some way. The subject must always remain with you. Without the caster near, the subject may go insane with worry, grief and pain. If that is your intention, then be prepared for the consequences, for these spells cannot be done covertly._

“The king was a warlock,” Jaejoong said with a yawn.

“Huh?” Changmin jumped in surprise and looked down at him.

“The human king, at that time when the wars started. He was a warlock. He had placed himself on the throne easily using the spells in this book. He was a tyrant and used fear and power to govern the rest of the humans. Everyone lived in fear. As elves, we cared very little what the humans did to each other. The civil war, between humans and warlocks, was one-sided and the warlocks were easily destroying all that defied the king. Then, the king turned his greedy eyes upon my kingdom and began attacking elves. So we destroyed them. They fought well, but in vain. It is very hard to kill an elf. It is very easy to kill a human. We had killed almost a third of the human population before the final group of warlocks was destroyed.

“The battle that gave me this curse was near the end of the wars. We had been fighting for almost an entire human lifetime. The warlock had everything for the curse prepared beforehand. It was a last ditch effort to bind an elf to the warlock and then use the elf against the others. I was wounded. I had suffered a strong cutting spell that had been embedded in a sword, and it sliced right through my side. My commanding officer ordered me to stay put, and I did. No one was aware of the warlock that had slipped through our defenses. I was not completely defenseless, but it was difficult to fight with a gaping stomach wound. He broke the vial of his curse potion over my injury while saying the incantation to bind me to him. It was my scream of pain, when the spell connected me to someone, that brought a fellow elf to my side. He killed the warlock, and then only a few minutes later, as this mark appeared upon my neck did we both realize what had happened. He has been so sorry his entire life for killing that warlock because if he hadn’t, the warlock could have removed the spell.”

“The history books I have read never say that the elves waited so long to join the war. The books make it seem like the war started with the elves.”

“Of course it does. We do not want to admit that we did not care about humans at all. They were killing themselves off. They were weak. They were little more than cattle to the elves back then. After the wars though, we had to change our way of thinking because without help, it was inevitable that yet another war would break out. So we helped restore order. We destroyed anything relating to the warlocks. All of the magic spells, scrolls, potions, and books. Except that one, since it affected me so greatly, and we put one of your ancestors upon the throne. He had fought well by our side. He had been a wonderful human general. I think the warlock blood within you came later in your family tree. There were a few humans that I felt drawn to because of the curse, but it was very easy for my father’s magic to dampen the effects. When you were born, it was already tasking my father’s strength to keep the curse under control. The draw to you was more powerful than even all of the counsel’s magic.”

Changmin ran his fingers through Jaejoong’s blond hair. “Part of me wishes to thank my warlock ancestor because without him, you would not be naked in my bed.”

Jaejoong chuckled. “Is it time for dinner?”

“Not just yet.”

“Okay, then I am not going to get up.”

Changmin laughed. “Good. Did you sleep well?”

Jaejoong smiled up at him. “I always sleep well when you are pressed against me.”

Changmin leaned down for a soft kiss. “Same here.

He resettled around Changmin’s body. His hand ran up and down Changmin’s thigh, the touch soft, unassuming, comforting.

Changmin looked back at the book. The seven spells were named: Banish, Fire, Pain, Servitude, Lust, Death, and Possession.

Banish erased blood, removed it from the body completely, killing the subject instantly. Fire let the warlock control the temperature of the blood, cooling it down or heating it up, with different incantations for every level, with a final incantation that made the subject feel as if they were burning from the inside. Pain did the same thing, but instead of temperature, the warlock used different levels of pain. And Lust used sex, desire, want, and a false sense of love as its weapon.

Servitude turned the subject into nothing more than a walking body, all the commands of the warlock obeyed. He controlled almost everything about the subject. And Death terrified Changmin. With just a word, the warlock could kill the subject, another word brought the subject back to life, over and over again, death and life, until the subject went insane.

Changmin hurried to the final spell.

“This is the curse upon me,” Jaejoong said, dragging his finger over the scrolled calligraphy.

_**Possession.** _

_This spell, when cast correctly, will tie the subject to you in every way. They will be yours. They will belong to you. They will not be able to be out of your presence without being in pain. Their lust and love is connected to you. Their life is connected to you. Their will is not their own. They will do nothing save for what you command them. Those subjected to this curse and then left alone, with no contact to the warlock, have gone crazy with grief. But they cannot take their own life because they do not have permission. Others have died of the pain that feels, as one subject described, like their skin is being removed with a heated knife._

_A word of caution to what sounds like the perfect spell. The warlock is also connected to the subject. While you will not feel the same painful effects, you will be drawn to the subject. You will want to be close to them. This spell of possession binds you to the subject, and binds the subject to you. While you have total control, the side effects are strong enough to almost make it feel like the subject has control over you._

“That makes so much more sense,” Changmin muttered as he scanned through the two pages of ingredients.

Jaejoong chuckled. “I know.” He moved his face up Changmin’s chest, biting at his skin and licking up to his nipple.

Changmin closed the book and set it on the edge of the bed. “I do not care if it is the curse,” he said. “Like you said, it is hard to separate my feelings from it. I have always found you attractive, and the last few weeks I have found you to be funny, sweet, generous, caring, and good at sucking my dick.”

Jaejoong laughed against his body.

“Like this, I can almost feel the curse. My blood sings. I can’t even explain it better than that. I feel happy and relaxed. Calm.” Changmin tilted Jaejoong’s head up and kissed him. “If it is the curse, then so be it. I am very happy, Jaejoong. Incredibly happy with you. I don't really care what has made me that way. The curse, sure, but I know that it is more than that. If you were not so beautiful, not so sweet, not so endearing, curse or no, I would not be sitting here with you naked in my bed.”

Jaejoong smiled, eyes sparkling with tears. “I am happy with you too.” Their mouths joined for a few long minutes. Jaejoong shifted away for a moment. “So there is your answer,” he said before climbing into Changmin’s lap. “Yes, it is the curse that makes you want to be with me. My question to you is, do you care?”

Changmin put his arms around Jaejoong’s waist and cupped his bare ass. “Not particularly.”

“And do you care if the curse makes me want to obey you, kneel at your feet, and worship your cock and body with my mouth?”

Changmin shuddered. “Definitely not.”

“So tell me, master, and I will obey.”

“Fuck.”

Jaejoong chuckled and said, “As you command, master.”


	8. The Binding Sex

Given permission (from Jaejoong and himself), Changmin started with Jaejoong’s mouth: firm, long kisses with hands gripping his ass, and short, soft licks to his lips, with hands dancing up and down his waist and sides.

“You are so beautiful,” Changmin said, tracing a sharp hipbone with fingertips.

Jaejoong smiled. “Of course.”

Chuckling, Changmin leaned forward and captured one of Jaejoong’s dusky nipples in his mouth.

Jaejoong moaned. “I’ve already had my mouth on you today. Can we just skip to the fucking, please?”

“But I haven’t had my mouth on you, have I?

“Next time, please.”

Changmin shook his head, pressed one more kiss to Jaejoong’s lips, and then settled him on the bed. His arms wound around Changmin’s neck, pulling him down and on top of him. Changmin chuckled, allowed the kiss, and pushed up, hovering over Jaejoong’s body.

“I have been told that I am very good with my mouth,” Changmin said.

“Bet you’re good with your cock too.”

“Of course,” Changmin said, and then rolled away from him despite Jaejoong’s noise of protest. He stood up, removed the sleep pants, and went to one of his chests. In a side compartment were bottles of oil and he took the one that smelled of roses and lilacs.

“There are spells for things like preparation,” Jaejoong said.

Changmin smirked on his way back to the bed. “I do my own work. I am not a lazy elf.”

“It’s faster.”

“So you want to cast a spell, have me fuck you for the immediate satisfaction, and then what? Go to dinner? Be done with each other?” Changmin set the pot of oil near the pile of pillows and then crawled over his body, kissing first his shin and then his knee, up to his hip. He bypassed Jaejoong’s erection and kissed the tattooed leaf. “Or do you want me to touch you, play with you, stretch you open with my fingers and tongue?”

Jaejoong bit his lip against a moan and his cheeks flushed. “Fine, fine. But you better make it worth it.”

“Of course.” He trailed his tongue down Jaejoong’s abs and to his belly button. His cheek slid along Jaejoong’s cock. “Are you going to let me make it worth it?”

Jaejoong whimpered. “Of course.”

Changmin cupped Jaejoong’s balls, pulling them just enough to lift his dick away from his stomach. He started at the base with his tongue, up the slim shaft to the ridge. Jaejoong settled a hand in Changmin’s hair, fingers touching and curling around the back of his head. Changmin hummed in appreciation and sucked the weeping head into his mouth. He slid his tongue through the slit of Jaejoong’s cock and then moved his hand from balls to shaft. He pumped, up and down, matching the movements with his mouth, only pausing a moment to lick at the crown.

Jaejoong’s breaths were deep, interrupted by tiny whimpers, quick inhales, and sharp sounds of pleasure.

Changmin bobbed his head slower, moving his mouth farther down the shaft. He took his time, keeping everything wet and slick, until he was comfortably taking most of Jaejoong into his mouth. His fingers went back to his balls, tugging gently with every suck. Jaejoong’s erection was a bit longer than Changmin’s, he noted, but his own was wider. He figured that made them equal.

“Please, please, please,” Jaejoong gasped suddenly. His cock throbbed, and Changmin sped up a little bit. Jaejoong pulled at his hair, probably to get him off his cock, but Changmin ignored the warnings and twisted his head while he sucked, licking at the head with his tongue when he could.

“No, no no no no no, want ... come inside me. Want, please, stop, Changmin-ah, please.”

Changmin chuckled instead and kept Jaejoong in his mouth. He used his hand again, stroking the shaft quickly while licking at the head.

Jaejoong’s whimpers turned to curses. His body shivered and twisted, a knee bent and he tried to thrust up into Changmin’s mouth. Changmin moved, between his legs, He pushed at his knees, and positioned himself so that Jaejoong could do as he craved. The fingers tightened in his hair again, both feet planted on the bed, knees spread wide, and Jaejoong thrust up, pulling Changmin down on his cock. The noises from Jaejoong’s throat sped up, got louder, echoing around them, and Changmin took over, moving slower despite Jaejoong’s whimper of protest. He pulled at Jaejoong’s balls again and took him deeper than before.

Jaejoong’s cock throbbed in Changmin’s mouth, pulsed and then twitched. Jaejoong gasped out Changmin’s name and then flooded his mouth with his release. Changmin sucked him through his orgasm, speeding up at first and then slowly back down as Jaejoong’s body collapsed and he sagged into the bed, legs going from taut to relaxed.

Changmin swallowed the load in his mouth and then went back to the tip, the head, sucking lightly, digging his tongue into the slit. He pumped his hand, pulling the last dollop of come to the tip. He rubbed it against his lips and then let Jaejoong go. He crawled up Jaejoong’s body and kissed him.

Jaejoong moaned, chest still heaving with breaths of recovery. He licked at Changmin’s lips, curled his hand in Changmin’s hair and shoved his tongue into Changmin’s mouth.

Changmin chuckled and allowed the heavy kiss. He settled against Jaejoong’s body, cock sliding against the slick skin near his stomach.

“Good?” Changmin asked, reaching between them to grip both of their erections.

Jaejoong nodded and moaned. “Yes, so good. So good, Changminnie.”

“I bet you want me to fuck you now?”

“Yes, yes yes! Please.”

Changmin shook his head, pushed up with one hand and then leaned back down for a soft kiss. “I am not done with my fingers and mouth yet.”

Jaejoong moaned and lifted a leg. He settled his ankle on Changmin’s thigh.

Changmin let go of their erections and dragged his fingertips down to his ass. He kept three fingers curled around his balls and used the other two to brush up and down his cleft. “But it is your choice, my elf. A quick fuck. Or do you want me to play with you?”

Jaejoong swallowed and nodded. “Play. Play. Please.”

“Of course,” Changmin murmured. He gave Jaejoong one more kiss and shuffled back.

Jaejoong lifted and spread his legs, gripping behind his knees.

Changmin started with touches, light fingertips up and down the back of his thighs, firmer sweeps along the curves of his ass and between his cleft. Jaejoong’s skin twitched and shivered. The dim light reflected off the wet stripes left by Changmin’s tongue. The elf was not hairless like Changmin first thought, but the hair was blonde and soft, wispy. Everything about Jaejoong’s naked body was soft. Except his entrance. That was tight, pulsing with every teasing touch.

Changmin ran his tongue over it, smiling at the high whimper from Jaejoong’s mouth. The crinkled whorl tightened against his tongue and then against his finger. He used spit to press in a fingertip and licked around it, above it, and sucked on Jaejoong’s balls while he forced the finger in deeper.

“You are tight,” Changmin muttered, removed his finger, and reached for the pot of oil. He had to get up a little but it was easy to get right back in position.

“Been ... been awhile.”

“That means something different to you than to me. How long is awhile?” He continued to lick at his cleft, swirl his tongue over Jaejoong’s entrance.”

Jaejoong gasped and shook his head. “Don’t ... remember ... years. Fifty, eighty, something. Long time. It just ... it hurts ... I ... fuck. Talk later.”

Changmin chuckled. “Yes, your highness.”

Changmin removed the lid from the oil. He poured some right at the top of Jaejoong’s cleft and then dipped three fingers into the pot before carefully setting it to the side. He retraced his fingers’ path, up and down the slick cleft. Jaejoong begged in noises that resembled words. Sort of.

Changmin pressed in one finger, the muscles clamped down on it and Jaejoong panted out a slightly uncomfortable noise. Changmin kissed his inner thigh, and moved up his body. A knee stayed hooked at his elbow, and Jaejoong gripped his hip. Changmin kissed him just as he moved his finger. Just a short press, in and out. When Jaejoong sighed through his nose, Changmin did it again, and then sped up.

“Can I use two fingers now?” Changmin asked.

Jaejoong’s eyes opened, but his vision obviously was not too focused. He nodded.

Changmin shifted again until he was kneeling between Jaejoong’s legs with Jaejoong’s ass resting on his thighs. It let Jaejoong relax a little, unclench the grip on his knees. Changmin poured more oil to his cleft and used a single finger to spread it around and push it inside him before trying a second finger. He dragged his other hand to Jaejoong’s cock and stroked him while pumping his fingers.

“Okay?” Changmin whispered and kissed his knee.

Jaejoong shook his head. “Cock. Soon. Need ... need your cock.”

“Soon.”

“If we’d done this my way, you’d already be fucking me.”

Changmin frowned. “Are you hurting? Do you need--”

Jaejoong shook his head. “No. This feels good. Just don’t stop.”

Changmin smiled and pressed in a third finger. “How about I do that instead?”

Jaejoong keened, the noise sounding like, “bastard” but too full of pleasure to be an actual word.

Changmin kept stroking and stretching him, pumping and spreading his fingers, slow and then quick. He watched Jaejoong’s face, mouth open, gasping, eyes fluttering with every movement of his fingers. His body shook, legs quivering from the effort to hold them up. Changmin let go of his erection and slowly removed his fingers. He shifted his knees back and leaned over Jaejoong’s body.

Jaejoong wrapped his legs around Changmin’s waist, and they both shivered as their erections brushed. Again, Changmin reached between them and gripped both hard lengths in a firm grip, stroking slowly.

Jaejoong gasped and twisted underneath him. “If you don’t get your cock inside me, I’m turning my arrows to your fucking head.”

Changmin laughed. He let go of Jaejoong and gripped himself. He teased a bit longer, swiping his cock up and down his cleft and licking at Jaejoong’s lips.

Jaejoong grabbed his ass. “Come on!”

“Bossy.”

“Please,” he gasped, back arching off the bed. He rubbed his erection against Changmin’s stomach.

And Changmin shivered. Okay, that was enough teasing. Changmin shifted his hips back, just enough to grab his erection, hold it against Jaejoong’s spasming entrance, and push in. Slowly.

Jaejoong keened, digging his nails into Changmin’s arms.

Changmin stopped, only partly for Jaejoong, and the rest for himself.

“Tight,” Changmin gasped.

Jaejoong chuckled, breathless, more of a moan. “Like I said. Been a while. Move.”

Changmin moved deeper and then pulled out a little. “Fuck.” His arms shook, and he lowered himself to elbows on either side of Jaejoong’s head. Perfect for a kiss or two while his body rocked slowly, getting used to the grip on is cock.

“Fuck,” Jaejoong said again. “Way too long.”

Changmin chuckled and used one hand to push sweaty hair off Jaejoong’s forehead. His hips curled, thrusting a little deeper, a little harder. “Never too long from now on. Every day, every hour.”

Jaejoong whimpered and nodded.

Changmin let his hips and lips communicate with Jaejoong. For once in his life, he was too content and greedy to make any sort of sarcastic comment about how much Jaejoong was enjoying this. And he was too, so any comment would have been ridiculous.

“Beautiful,” is what he finally settled on, whispered and breathed into Jaejoong’s mouth, muttered between thrusts and gasps and fleeting smiles.

It was the most uncomplicated moment of Changmin’s life. He did not need to hide his affection, he did not need to hurry for fear of being discovered. He did not need to wish for something more, something like love, definitely devotion. Curse or no, Changmin felt complete and knew that he was going to be with Jaejoong for as long as the other elf let him.

It was also one of the best orgams of Changmin’s life. Stealing his breath. Shimmering through his skin. Jaejoong’s tight body clenched around him, and his heart stuttered, his breath stopped for a moment, and he moaned into Jaejoong’s mouth, the kiss heavy while his hips still and he pumped Jaejoong full of his release.

“Sexy,” Jaejoong said.

Changmin tried to reply and settled for a kiss to Jaejoong’s neck, just above the binding curse.

“May I?”

Changmin grunted a question.

With a chuckle, Jaejoong said, “May I push you over to your back and sit on your cock until I come?”

Changmin moaned, hips thrusting a little. “Of course.”

\---

Jaejoong was beautiful. On his knees. On his back. Riding Changmin’s cock. In the tub. Laying in bed. Asleep. Awake. With a bow and arrow aimed at a target.

And sitting on the floor, eating food from Changmin’s fingers. Which very quickly led to Jaejoong on the floor with Changmin’s dick between his lips.

Changmin feared that he would neglect everything in his kingdom and everything would fall into disarray just because Jaejoong loved sucking on his cock so much and so often, and Changmin knew that he would never tell Jaejoong no when the beautiful elf wanted something, especially if it was sex.


	9. The Binding Agreement

Minho woke them up in the morning, lips jerking like he was trying to keep from laughing. Changmin grumbled at him, but conceded to his humor. They were naked, covered in come and hickys, and Jaejoong was so tightly wound around him that Changmin was unable to smack his butler when he asked cheekily, “Shall I return your reading room to you, sir?”

But then Jaejoong moaned and shifted his leg under the blankets, thigh pressing against Changmin’s morning erection and Changmin gasped and Minho laughed and reminded them that they had to be at the queen’s dining room in two hours before leaving the room.

“Plenty of time,” Jaejoong whispered and slid under the blankets to get his mouth on Changmin’s cock. It didn’t take long for Jaejoong to have Changmin desperate, his mouth and hands working up and down the shaft for Changmin to want to come all over Jaejoong’s pretty face. He flung the blankets away to watch the way his cock slid into his mouth, between Jaejoong’s red, shiny lips. He curled a hand into Jaejoong’s hair and helped, just a little, pushing down while lifting his hips off the bed.

Jaejoong shifted around his body, between his legs and pushed at his knees, all without taking his mouth away. Changmin let his body be manipulated, let Jaejoong hook his knees over his shoulder and only protested a little when Jaejoong’s mouth moved down to his balls. His hand kept stroking his cock. His other hand went to his ass, and Changmin moaned and curled his hips a little more. Jaejoong pulled away from him for a moment, finger into his mouth, and then that finger pressed against Changmin’s entrance and Jaejoong was sucking him deep again.

Changmin moaned at the small stretch and his hands went above his head. “Jaejoong, wow. Just ...”

Jaejoong hummed and sped up, both his mouth and finger. The pleasure weaved and abated, surging back strong. Changmin’s legs twitched, and when Jaejoong pressed in a second finger, he gripped behind his own knees to spread himself open farther.

When Jaejoong pulled away from his cock, Changmin protested, fingers yanking his hair, pushing him back toward it.

Jaejoong chuckled and whispered something that Changmin did not quite understand, but a second later, the two fingers inside him were three, his body was slick with ... something ... and Jaejoong was back on his cock with his mouth.

“Fuck, magic, so good, so good.”

Jaejoong wiggled his fingers, and Changmin moaned and then his other hand was on his balls, tugging and squeezing, and with fingers and his mouth and hands and just ... Jaejoong ... everything was Jaejoong, Jaejoong, Jaejoong. In his body, in his heart, and sounds and cries that fell from his mouth.

Changmin vision went dark and spotty and his body shuddered through a series of teasing pulses, almost coming and then not, over and over, right on the edge with Jaejoong’s mouth pulling him over it, his hand stroking him through it, his fingers pumping more slowly as Changmin clamped down on them. He came almost harder than he had the night before, filling Jaejoong’s mouth with his release.

Jaejoong swallowed and continued to suck on him through the pleasure. His fingers fell from Changmin’s body and then his mouth was on his skin, kissing up his chest. Come dripped on his chin, and he licked at Changmin’s nipples and then his neck and pressed their lips together. Through his daze, Changmin realized that Jaejoong was frotting against him, his cock sliding on Changmin’s stomach. He moaned and gripped Jaejoong’s ass and was halfway through telling Jaejoong to wait before Jaejoong was shaking through his own orgasm and pulsing a sticky mess of come between their bodies.

Jaejoong cried out and collapsed against him, body still moving slowly, and Changmin ran his hands over his back and ass.

“Good,” Jaejoong whimpered. “So good.”

Changmin hummed in agreement.

\---

Changmin walked into his family’s private dining room, smiling because well, he had Jaejoong’s hand entwined with his, and he had every right to smile after his night, and this morning in bed and in the tub, and then against the wall when Jaejoong walked out of his closet in gray, clingy pants and a knitted blue sweater. Really wasn’t fair, and his mouth still tasted like come, and if he looked carefully, he could see the spot of come that had slipped from his lips and landed on the gray material, staining it before he could lick it up.

But after only two steps in the room, he stopped in shock. A girl sat next to his mother. Well, a woman really, but Changmin had known her for so long that she would be nothing but the young girl that he played around with and got in trouble with. She wore a gorgeous green dress, deep colors wavering over each other. It looked like a summer meadow of grasses blowing in the wind. Her white hair was braided and fell over a shoulder, the tip of it falling almost to her waist. Upon her head sat a matching green scarf that was also twisted down the braid.

“Luna?” Changmin said in surprise.

The girl sitting with his mother turned and smiled. “Hi, Minnie.”

“Luna!” He rushed over to her, and when she stood up, he wrapped her arms around her and lifted her in a circle with another shout of her nickname.

Luna laughed and let Changmin hug her, her own arms going around his middle.

“What are you doing here?” Changmin asked against her hair.

“If you would stop acting like an ill-mannered bastard, I will explain,” his mother said.

Changmin smiled at Luna, and she made a cute little face that he had always adored. But he did set her down, because she was in a fine dress and there were places to twirl around your best friend and act like children, and one of those places was not the royal family dining room.

Her eyes went over Changmin’s shoulder. “Kim Jaejoong. It’s nice to see you again.”

Jaejoong bowed over her hand and kissed her knuckles. “And you, Park Sungyun. I adored the silks your caravan brought last spring. Our entire city is fighting over the last bolt. My father has it stashed away.”

Luna laughed and squeezed Jaejoong’s hands. “I will be sure to tell him to double your order then.”

Jaejoong chuckled. “But of course.”

“Please sit,” his mother said. “We can talk as we eat.”

Changmin sat across from Luna, and Jaejoong sat next to him, across from the queen. The queen wore a simple blue gown that actually matched Jaejoong’s sweater pretty well, with her hair braided and wrapped up on top of her head. The silver day-to-day crown was accented with blue jewels. Jaejoong bowed to her before he sat, and she nodded her head in acknowledgement. As soon as they were seated, servants appeared with coffee, fruit and breads.

“What are you doing here?” Changmin asked, still smiling at Luna. “The last I heard, your caravan was in the north.”

“They are,” Luna replied, “but I was invited.” She nodded at Changmin’s mother.

Changmin looked at his mother, and after a moment, he understood the implications of a girl being invited to breakfast with the queen and the prince, and his eyes went wide, and she smirked at him. “Mother! But this ... you cannot mean ... it is not proper!”

She rolled her eyes in a good impression of Changmin on his poutiest days. “It does not matter. I am the queen, and I may do as I wish.”

“But ... what ... I can’t ... this isn’t ...”

“Dare I ask?” Jaejoong ventured.

Luna grinned at him. “Changmin and I are to be married next summer.”

“But ... I ... Mother!”

“Shut your mouth, son, and open your ears,” she said. “You have disapproved of every noble girl, and none of them have brought light to your eyes or a smile to your face. Not in the way you have been mooning around the castle for the last few weeks with this elf beside you. A mother is not blind. Neither is a queen. This is a good match. You both like each other. You both know each other. And at one time I was worried that the two of you were going to come to me with news of a bastard heir.”

Changmin shut his eyes and buried his face in his hands. “This is not possible.”

“It is. I am the queen. This is what I have decided.”

“But she is not a Lord’s daughter!”

“And I am sitting right across from you, ass,” she snapped and kicked him under the table.

“Ow. Luna!”

Luna stuck her tongue out at him.

“She is not a Lord’s daughter, you are correct. But only because we call her father a merchant. He is a Lord just as anyone else it. The only difference is that his castle moves.”

“Father will not agree to this.”

“Your father does not matter when it comes to things that I have already decided. Are you agreeing to it?”

Changmin huffed and stared at his childhood friend. They had met when Changmin had only been six years old, Luna a year younger. Her white hair had reminded him of the moon, and the first thing he had said to her was “Luna,” a word he had learned just the week before. It was fate, a match. They met at least twice a year, every time Luna’s father brought the caravan to the castle to deliver tithes and sell other merchandise. When he was fourteen, he had stolen his first kiss from her, and she had slapped him soundly across the cheek. And yes, when they were a bit older, things had happened. But it was those things that stopped him from agreeing.

He sighed. “I cannot marry you, Luna. I can’t. I ... I just ...”

“You must marry someone,” his mother said. “Do you wish to marry one of the others? Yoona, maybe, or Hyolyn?”

Changmin made a face. “No.”

“Then quit your bellyaching and thank me!”

“Thank you, Mother. I know that you like for me to be happy, but ... what about Luna? What about her happiness?”

Luna shook her head. “Minnie, please. I know you better than I know anyone else. Your mother knows you. And both of us can see how much you adore the elf next to you. It won’t be like that with the two of us, and I know that. But you have to understand that I don’t want that.”

“Then ... why?” Changmin tried to find the right question even with the blush on his cheeks. He figured his mother had known about his feelings for Jaejoong, but not anyone else. Though, Luna was correct; they had known each other their entire lives.

“I have a caravan to run,” Luna said. “I do not want to be married and tied down with all of those things. But we compromise. We marry. I have an heir, and you and your elf, and our child, come on the caravan with me. You do not need to be here at the castle all the time, not with your father still the king. Not all the time, mind you. We’ll do both. If you can agree to that compromise, then I can agree to a marriage.”

“But ... but ... the gossip! The people. They will not agree ...”

“The people will agree with whatever we decide,” the queen said. “We will begin on working to change their minds now, while your father and I are still powerful. We will slowly remove the laws pertaining to male couples. It is only our delusions to think that it does not go on behind closed doors. With the laws gone, less people will be hurt and more people will be happy. We hope that once you take over the throne that you may proudly sit with Jaejoong by your side.”

“But ... this ... I didn’t even ... How did you even know?”

The queen rolled his eyes. “Good heavens, son. A mother that doesn’t know about her son’s preferences, whereabouts, and activities is a horrible mother.”

“Sounds like you are out of excuses,” Jaejoong said.

Changmin looked over at him and shook his head. “How come you are okay with this?”

Jaejoong shrugged and looked at the queen. “I still get what I want, what I need?”

“Yes. You have solidified our alliance with the elves, and honestly, the elves now owe us a huge favor because of this binding curse.”

“We are in your debt, your highness.”

“But you do know what it means? Marrying her?” Changmin asked Jaejoong.

Luna kicked him again. “Stop talking about me like I am not here!”

“Of course,” Jaejoong said and did not bother to try to stop himself from leaning into Changmin’s shoulder. “I still get what I need.”

Changmin sighed. “I can’t do that to you, to either of you! Luna. I just ... you should be happy!”

“Being on the caravan makes me happy. Nothing else does. Certainly not the bolstering, pigheaded men that want to marry me.”

“We want stronger ties with the caravan,” the queen said. “Your father and I discussed that just two months ago.”

Changmin reached over and took Luna’s hand. “I cannot love you.”

“You already do, you cad.”

“But not in the way a woman should be loved by a man. I cannot.”

“That is not what I want.” She squeezed his hand and let it go. “The men who clamor to marry me want to tie me down, push me into a home, take away the sky as my roof. I cannot live like that. I --” She glanced at the queen and then over at Changmin. “I have a lover, Changmin, one that I care for and--”

“I will not take you from him!”

She smirked. “Him? So presumptuous.”

Changmin’s mouth opened to retort and then stopped in surprise. “Her?”

“Well done, genius,” she said with a laugh. “This marriage will let me do what I want. I can be with my Jinri without the fear of a man trying to tame me or my father trying to marry me off. I can be with her and you can be with your elf. The caravan will forge stronger ties with the royal family, and we will provide an heir for the kingdom and the caravan.”

Jaejoong settled a hand on Changmin’s thigh and squeezed. “Like I said, all out of excuses.”

Changmin shook his head. “You’re right, and you’re right,” he added and kicked Luna under the table. “Brat.”

“So we’re in agreement?” the queen asked.

Changmin sighed. “Yes. We are in agreement.”

“Good. You are beyond the proper age of marriage anyway,” the queen said. “Now I can tell the other noble women to take their daughters and marry them off to the pigs of--”

“Mother!”

She smirked again, and Jaejoong laughed, his ankle wrapping around Changmin’s. He leaned his head on Changmin’s shoulder, and Changmin huffed and reluctantly smiled.

“You’re right,” Luna said. “They are cute together.”

The queen nodded. “Indeed. Jaejoong, if you would be so kind as to attend a meeting with the King and me later on in the evening. I do need to explain some things to him. Having you there to explain and show him the binding curse will help matters conclude quickly.”

“Of course, your highness.”

“There are so many things that can go wrong with this,” Changmin muttered.

Jaejoong pressed a kiss to his cheek. “So pessimistic.”

Changmin met his mother’s eyes. He should have known that she already knew. She was his mother. She was his queen.

“We will all support you, son,” she said. “If you were going into this alone, then it would be different. But you have my support, you have the entire elf kingdom support, you’ll have the Caravan’s support, and more importantly, you’ll have the support of those closest to you. Your elf. Your wife. Your family.”

Changmin nodded. “I know, but I can be worried. It is my kingdom, my future family, my reputation that I worry about.”

“If you walk around with your head down in shame, then that gives people the opportunity to agree with you,” Luna said. “Walk tall, Minnie-ah, you always do. If you believe that there is nothing wrong, then your people will follow.”

“That is probably the smartest thing you have ever said.”

Changmin dutifully took another kick under the table.


	10. The Binding Hope

Changmin missed another target. He sighed and lowered his bow. There was no wind to blame it on today. The sun was setting behind them, the shadows were soft. Only his mind. Only his thoughts were to blame.

“That’s enough for today,” he heard Jaejoong say.

Changmin thought of protesting, but he really did not want to. In a daze, he handed his bow off to Minho and then followed Jaejoong into the castle and up to their room.

Their room. It was not his room anymore. He loved that it was not his room anymore, even if Jaejoong’s things cluttered up his closet.

Changmin fell into an arm chair, and Jaejoong and Minho’s voices murmured beyond his thoughts. A door shut, a muted thud, and Changmin tilted his head back, fingers tight on the chair.

He jerked at the hands on his legs, but did not move. Fingers unlaced his boots, pulled them off his feet. And then Jaejoong stood, just for another moment. Another door, more voices. And he was back.

One foot lifted and firm fingers rubbed into the arch of his foot.

Changmin lifted his head and stared down at Jaejoong, who sat at his feet, rubbing, massaging his muscles. Jaejoong smiled up at him and nodded toward the table.

Whiskey. The strongest in the castle. A shot was already poured. Changmin ignored it and picked up the bottle, swigging way too much.

Jaejoong frowned at him, but did not protest and kept rubbing, up his calf, behind his knee. Changmin let him, head back, mind spinning, thoughts too fast and quick for any profound conclusions. He barely registered hands on his hips, pulling at his pants, but he lifted enough to get them off, and then his shirt, and he lay naked in the chair. Hands turned into a mouth. Fingers into a tongue and teeth, and he finally moved, reacted, groaning, fingers tangling in Jaejoong’s hair as he bobbed his head.

“So good,” Changmin whispered.

Jaejoong pulled up, tonguing the slit of his cock. With a smirk, he said, “Do you want to fuck out your irritation?”

Changmin moaned. “O-of course.” He yanked on Jaejoong’s shoulders, and fell to his knees. They kissed heavily for only a few seconds, and then Changmin moved, pushed Jaejoong toward the chair and he shifted around him. Jaejoong followed his lead with an eager noise, pressing his chest to the padded surface and spreading his legs.

Changmin moved behind him, hands on his hips. He watched as Jaejoong reached between his legs, to his ass, and his fingers brushed over his own entrance. Changmin’s protest was gone as Jaejoong muttered words and then his body was relaxed and a slim gleam of something slick dripped.

“Magic,” Changmin said, and shoved three fingers into Jaejoong’s body.

Jaejoong moaned, stroking his own erection.

Changmin only played for a moment and then, held his cock down and thrust into Jaejoong’s body. Jaejoong cried out, and Changmin shifted his knees for a better angle and then fucked into him. Harsh, quick. Definitely a release and escape for his irritation. But worry, so much worry. Would he be able to do this for the rest of his life? Was his mother right? Could the people let go of their hatred for what he wanted?

Changmin had no idea. There were too many consequences. Too many unknowns.

He leaned over Jaejoong’s body, mouth at his tattooed shoulder and gasped out his frustrations into Jaejoong’s skin. His sharp thrusts moved the chair on the stone floor. The rug under his knees scraped against his skin.

“I can’t ... I can’t ...” Changmin just stopped, suddenly, despite Jaejoong’s protest, and he collapsed over his back, one arm around his stomach, the other in his hair. Jaejoong gripped his arm, and then the annoying elf moved, thrust back as much as he could from that angle, and Changmin moaned and let him.

After, Changmin would marvel at the joys of Jaejoong’s magic that kept him slick without reapplication. After, Changmin would remember how beautifully Jaejoong moaned his name. After, Changmin would be very pleased at how hard and how much Jaejoong came, how his release stained and destroyed the fabric of the chair.

But right then, he just let Jaejoong take care of him, bring him to the point of sweet oblivion, and he worried, maybe even cried a little, and hoped that this was not a temporary thing.

\---

Changmin sat in his newly returned reading room; shelves, books, chairs, and tables were back where they belonged. He pondered the historical tome on his lap and decided it needed to be rewritten. He hated inaccuracy, even if he knew the elves had done it on purpose. Maybe he’d make Jaejoong write a new one, or at least add an amendment to this one.

He looked up at noise in the doorway, confused when Jaejoong entered with Minho right behind him. They hefted a chest between them and then settled it onto the ground near a bookshelf.

“Bring dinner to us here,” Jaejoong said.

Minho nodded. “Yes, your highness.”

Changmin was not sure he could eat.

As soon as Minho left, Jaejoong smiled over at Changmin.

“What’s in the chest?”

“Remember how I told you that the elves destroyed the warlock’s books and scrolls?”

Changmin nodded.

“I lied.” Jaejoong opened the chest and hummed. “I did not want to tell you all about them because I was not sure what was going to happen later. But you have proven yourself. You’ve promised yourself to me over and over and I trust you to not use the binding curse against me. As the future king, you deserve to know all about your history, not just some abridged form of it that is acceptable for the masses.”

Jaejoong turned to the shelf and started moving books from it. And Changmin protested, surging up from the chair.

“Calm down. I just need this shelf.”

“But ... my books. They’re organized and ...”

“Then reorganize them.”

“Ask first!”

Jaejoong visibly shivered and his hand shook a bit. Changmin moved to him, concerned, and took the book from his hand. “What’s wrong?”

“That was just a very, very strong order, master,” he whispered.

Changmin frowned. “I’m sorry. I--”

“No, don’t apologize.”

Jaejoong turned around in his arms, and leaned against the shelf. Changmin crowded in close. “The orders are just ... sensual. Like, that’s how it feels, like a caress on my skin, a teasing touch that if obeyed will be even more pleasurable.”

Changmin cupped his face. “Does that mean you want me to order you around more, or less?”

Jaejoong smiled. “I’m not really sure. You’re kind of a particular bastard who only likes things his way.”

“And you’re a meddling irritant who thinks he can change whatever he wishes.”

Jaejoong chuckled and Changmin kissed him, leg pressed tight between Jaejoong’s thighs. He shivered under the pressure, and then yanked his head away, thunking it on the shelf behind him.

He licked his reddened lips. “May I reorganize your books, master?”

Changmin groaned and then nodded. “Of course. Within reason.”

“Of course.”

They kissed again, Changmin’s arm around Jaejoong’s waist, and his other up his shirt, fingers tugging on his nipples.

“Please don’t,” Minho suddenly said. “You’ve already ruined one chair today.”

Changmin glared at his servant and Jaejoong buried his laughter in Changmin’s shoulder.

Minho set the tray of dinner on a tabletop. “I will leave orders for no one to bother you for the rest of the evening.”

“You are the best, Minho,” Jaejoong said.

“One day Changmin will realize that.”

“Get out,” Changmin growled while they laughed.

The door shut and Changmin pressed a kiss to Jaejoong’s cheek. “Please don’t gang up on me with him.”

“But it’s so fun.”

Changmin rolled his eyes. “I just bet it is. Let’s eat, and then you can show me what is in the chest.”

Jaejoong nodded and then frowned.

“Huh?’

“I’m still feeling a bit ... ordered, so ... please go sit.”

Changmin thought of protesting, but he knew he would always do what Jaejoong asked. He sat at the table, and Jaejoong moved by him, next to him, and then dropped to his knees, and then sat at Changmin’s feet and smiled up at him.

“Better,” he said. “Feed me.”

Changmin lifted an eyebrow and started eating on his own, ignoring Jaejoong’s pout and then eventually Jaejoong’s whimpers. The chicken was good, well-seasoned and tender. He speared a small cut on his fork and held it out for Jaejoong.

Jaejoong opened his mouth with a grateful noise.

Changmin smiled and ate a few more bites.

Jaejoong touched his knee. Begging.

Changmin shook his head. “I did not say you could touch me.”

“Fuck,” Jaejoong breathed.

“Or talk.”

Jaejoong whimpered.

Changmin ate a few pieces of vegetables. “Take off your shirt.”

With a huff, Jaejoong obeyed, and got a few of his own vegetables.

Changmin dangled a bigger piece of chicken out for him. “Play with your nipples, both of them.”

Shaking, Jaejoong did, sliding his fingertips over his ribs and to his chest. He pinched them, soft at first, and then a little harder when Changmin continued to tease with the food. He flicked at them, squeezed them, rolled them between his thumb and finger. He gasped and begged with little noises, and Changmin waited until his hips started moving, his erection straining his loose pants before letting Jaejoong have the bite. “Good boy. Keep playing.”

Changmin finished most of his meal, only glancing at Jaejoong who was still playing with his nipples, turning them red and tugging them taut. Changmin fought off the urge to smile and hug his elf and the need pounce and fuck his elf.

He drew Jaejoong’s plate of food to him and pondered the selection of vegetables. He gave Jaejoong another bite before saying, “Stop. Take off your pants.”

Jaejoong scrambled to obey, not getting up, and slipped his pants off. He went back to his knees, hands gripping his thighs. His chest was red, nipples almost bruising already. Sensitive.

“Beautiful,” Changmin whispered, brushing his knuckles over one sensitive nub. Jaejoong whimpered again, and Changmin fed him some more.

And so it continued. Silly commands that ranged from sticking out his tongue to stroking his cock and fingering himself without his spells, just Changmin’s spit. Changmin’s own dick grew harder in his pants, and when it came time for dessert (a mess of chocolate drizzled fruit and bread), Changmin ordered Jaejoong to remove his own clothes too.

“And now my pretty pretty elf. In my lap.”

Jaejoong let out an eager moan and climbed into his lap, legs on either side of Changmin’s hands on his shoulders. He sat back, ass on Changmin’s knees. Changmin took the plate of desserts and fed a few pieces to Jaejoong, kissing the chocolate from his lips. Changmin dragged a berry through the pool of chocolate and then dropped it. His skin jerked as the cool berry rolled down his chest.

“Oops,” Changmin said with a smirk.

Jaejoong’s eyes gleamed and he started with the first drop of chocolate at Changmin’s chest and followed it down, licking and sucking on Changmin’s skin until he had to fall to his knees between Changmin’s legs. The berry had stopped at the bend of hip and thigh, and Jaejoong licked the chocolate around it up before eating the fruit.

Changmin’s erection bobbed next to his face, and Changmin decided he quite liked Jaejoong naked between his legs. He gripped his cock with his sticky chocolate-covered fingers and held it up. With his other hand, he pressed another piece of cold fruit to the slit.

“Eat it,” Changmin said, voice breathy. “Finish your dessert.”

Jaejoong smiled and sucked cock and berry into his mouth. Changmin moaned, sticky hand going to Jaejoong’s hair. He meant to keep teasing, but it felt too good, Jaejoong’s mouth always felt so very good. He gripped Jaejoong’s hair and moved his head up and down on his cock. The teasing was supposed to drive Jaejoong crazy. Not Changmin. Not as his master.

_His master._

Changmin cursed and slunk lower in the chair, hips moving with his hands, until Jaejoong was almost gagging, but Jaejoong was so very good with a cock in his throat. Almost too good, and Changmin’s body exploded with pleasure before he was ready. He felt himself pulse on the edge, waited until he was coming, moans echoing around them, and then he yanked Jaejoong back, off his cock, and emptied his orgasm all over his face and hair. He sagged into the chair, squeezing himself, and Jaejoong sucked on the tip, tonguing the slit of his cock, and Changmin moaned.

He glanced down at Jaejoong, at his face dripping with Changmin’s pleasure, clumps of his release in his blond hair. Mixed with chocolate.

Changmin laughed. “Sticky.” He held out his fingers, come stretching between them.

Jaejoong sucked them into his mouth and licked them clean.

“Good boy,” Changmin praised again. “Let’s go take a bath.”

\---

“You still seem upset,” Jaejoong said, trailing his fingertip along Changmin’s arm where it rested on the edge of the tub.

Changmin sighed. “It still do not think this is fair. Not to Luna. Not to you.”

“What about you?” Jaejoong asked.

“Huh?”

“You have been brooding all day, but I’m not sure why. Luna explained what she wanted. You know what I want. And both what I want and what Luna wants benefits you greatly. She gets to be with her lover. You get to be with me. Yes, you’ll fuck her eventually, but it sounds like you’ve already done that in the past. We’re all being honest with each other. No bad or resentful feelings. It’s perfect.”

Changmin wrapped his arms around Jaejoong, burying his face in his neck, lips to the curse. “I just ... it seems too perfect ... surreal. Like it will all fall apart.”

“With so much support and love, from your mother, your best friend, and me, how can it all fall apart? Because of your people? You are forgetting that your mother is not going to announce to the people that we are fucking. They can have their own suspicions, but this marriage will help hide them until people’s minds have been changed. It is not all going to change tomorrow.”

“I don’t want to lose you.”

Jaejoong huffed and shifted around until he was on his knees, between Changmin’s bent legs. He ran his hands over Changmin’s shoulders and into his wet hair before pressing close and kissing him deeply. Changmin wrapped his arms around Jaejoong’s waist, hands falling to his ass for a firm squeeze.

Jaejoong hummed in appreciation, sudden erection pressed tight to Changmin’s front.

“You will not lose me,” he breathed against his lips. “You cannot lose me, I cannot lose you. I will follow you in death, you’ll be by my side for as long as the curse will allow.”

“The curse, the curse,” Changmin mumbled.

Jaejoong laughed and pulled away. He cupped Changmin’s cheeks. “Tomorrow, you’re going to remember that I have a large chest of books and scrolls full of information you have not studied. Let me give you a preview of something that affects you. There is a journal, one written by a human who had been ordered to write his feelings and the effects of the binding curse in great detail. He spoke about the longing, the need, the sex, the possession, especially the pain when the warlock was not near him. But in every single entry, he talked about how much he despised the warlock. The warlock had not put a love spell on him, just one of possession, like the one with me. You’ll read that book eventually, but based on that, and some of the other records, I have a theory. Would you like to hear it?”

“Does it have anything to do with why my dick seems to fit perfectly in your ass?”

Jaejoong smirked. “No, but we’ll test that theory out again tonight, don’t worry. The curse cannot create feelings that are not already there. I’ve had hundreds of years to study these books and manuals, and study the way the curse has made me feel in comparison. It has had nothing to do with the way that I feel about you. I have never hated you. I’ve never despised you. It has been less than two months with you here, and I have gone from craving you to adoring you. You said it yourself, that you like me, that in the past you found me attractive and thought of me in a sexual way. The curse did not cause that, and it’s not like the curse is going to change that. You have been drawn to me because the curse demands satisfaction, you have wanted to be near me and touch me and fuck me because the curse demands satisfaction, but despite all its claims, the curse is a physical thing, not a mental thing, remember that. You like me because you like me. I adore you because I adore you. I respect you because I respect you. I want to kneel at your feet and lick at your cock because your cock is amazing and you are so very good at controlling me. None of those are from the curse. The curse only draws us together. Imagine if we despised each other.”

“I did despise you.”

Jaejoong smiled. “You did not. I do not think you could ever hate anything or anyone.”

“So I was angry with you.”

“Of course, but you respected me.”

“Of course, but I did not like you.”

“And you got over that very quickly.”

“Because I got to know you.”

“Exactly. Not because the curse changed your mind. You gave me a chance because of the curse, but you did not learn to like me because of it.”

“Stop making sense.”

Jaejoong laughed and curled his body close to Changmin’s, water splashing over the side of the tub. Changmin hugged him tightly. “I adore you,” Jaejoong whispered. “I have always adored you, and we have so much time together, so many moments to share.”

He smiled, and Changmin felt it again through his soul instead of seeing it.

“Who knows? Maybe one day you will fall in love with me.”

Changmin inhaled and then pressed his face to Jaejoong’s head, hiding his own smile, but he pushed it at Jaejoong, pushed the feeling of the happiness that would come from loving Jaejoong straight through his soul, and he knew that Jaejoong felt it. It was still too soon and the curse was still too much a part of them both to actually say the words, but Changmin hoped for it. He had always hoped to fall in love. One day. With the betrothal to Luna, with his mother on his side, Changmin finally thought it was possible to fall in love. With Jaejoong? He almost guaranteed it.

They held each other for a long time, and Jaejoong finally shivered in the cool water, pushed away from Changmin and stood up. Changmin looked up his strong body and licked his lips, sliding his hands up Jaejoong’s thighs.

“The curse wants an orgasm,” Jaejoong demanded, hands on his pale hips. His cock twitched and filled under Changmin’s touch.

“Another one?”

“Yes. You got a blow job after archery practice and I was not satisfied, and then you teased me with all sorts of commands and did not let me come during dinner, and now it is time for you to do that. Come to bed and satisfy me.”

Changmin rolled his eyes playfully and gripped Jaejoong’s hands to haul himself to his feet. “Is it the curse that is so demanding, or is that just you?”

Jaejoong was climbing out of the tub and he smirked over his shoulder. “Does it matter?”

“Yes,” Changmin said, following after him and accepting the robe that Jaejoong held out. “I’m more inclined to satisfy you than the curse.”

“So if I say it is the curse, will you leave me desperate? Truss me up on the bed with a rope and until I’m begging you to let me come?”

Changmin shivered and hugged him close for a kiss. “Maybe.”

Jaejoong’s smile almost blinded him. “Then it’s definitely the curse that demands satisfaction.”

Changmin moaned and pulled Jaejoong into the bedroom.


	11. Epilogue: The Binding Love

_Five years later:_

Jaejoong cursed as the boy on his shoulder burped out most of the food that Jaejoong had just fed him, all over his shoulder, down his tunic and into his hair. Jaejoong pulled the baby away and glared at him.

“Your daddy is so lucky that I love him. Ugh, Taeminnie. Gross.” He waved his hand at the mess, making it disappear, but he would not feel clean until he could wash his hair.

The double tornados in the form of Changmin’s twin daughters blew into the room, long white hair and bodies wet from their bath. They were both wearing blue robes and slippers, making it impossible for Jaejoong to tell which twin was which. He was going to dye one of their heads black soon. They screamed something about a gallant sword fight and of a woman in battle saving her commander’s life, and Jaejoong rolled his eyes. Trust Luna and Jinri to tell them only war and battle stories.

“Why does your father feel the need to have another child?” Jaejoong demanded softly, his glare at the boy half-hearted. He loved Changmin’s children just like they were his own, and they all knew it. Especially Changmin who told his children to call Jaejoong “Daddy” just like they did Changmin.

“Daddy Joongie! Daddy Joongie! Be the general, let me save your life!”

Taemin started crying at the sudden shout and sudden movement because the girl had yanked on his arm.

“I swear I’m going to curse your father sterile,” Jaejoong said.

Both girls stopped and stared up at him, heads tilted the same way, eyes wide and curious. “What’s that mean? Stureel?”

“Sterile, and nothing, just ...” Jaejoong took a very deep breath. The curse made him upset when Changmin was with his wife, satisfying someone else, touching and fucking someone else. He knew it. He felt it.

Or he at least blamed the curse. It was not because he was being irrationally jealous. No. Not at all.

“Daddy Minnie!”

Jaejoong spun around in surprise.

His gorgeous, beautiful amazing lover walked into the room, fully dressed in the same regal clothes he had left in, from his boots to the crown on his head. He’d been in court most of the day, and then just as suddenly Luna and Jinri were there with children, and Jaejoong was babysitting while the man he loved bedded his wife.

Or so he thought. Jaejoong scrutinized him. Those clothes were not wrinkled. The coat was not rumpled like it had been tossed on the floor. The black pants still held a sharp crease. The white shirt billowed open, giving teasing glimpses of his chest, but Jaejoong had done that. With his mouth to Changmin’s neck, he had slipped a hand, loosening buttons, before Changmin had dashed away.

Those clothes had not come off his body. His hair was still impeccable, the crown resting on his head. Maybe he had changed his mind. If he knew what was best for him, he would have, but he’d been gone for a few hours now. What was going on?

“Hello, darlings. Are you being good for your daddy?”

“Yes!” one twin shouted. Ana or Ailee, Jaejoong could not tell when they were not standing still and they were running around Changmin, using him as protection from some imaginary foe.

Changmin swung one up in the air, and she squealed and Jaejoong winced. They got louder every year.

Elven children were not nearly this rambunctious.

The other twin tugged on Jaejoong’s tunic. “You can now! You can!”

“I can what?” Jaejoong asked.

“Curse Daddy sterile, like you said.”

Jaejoong froze.

In the sudden silence, Changmin chuckled. “Oh, really? Did he say that?”

The twins nodded. “Yep! Yep!”

Changmin laughed. “Girls, why don’t you two go find your mothers? It is almost dinner time and you two need to be dressed. Tell them that your daddies will be late.”

“Okay, Daddy!” They scampered down the hall, and with just a look from Changmin, Minho followed after the girls, a knowing smirk on his face.

Jaejoong stared, half in dread, half in anticipation, as Changmin stalked over to him. He was smiling, and wow, did that smile do things to Jaejoong’s body.

“How quickly can you get Taemin down to sleep?” Changmin asked.

Jaejoong swallowed and looked at the dozing boy who seemed content now that he’d thrown up the mashed vegetables Jaejoong had tried to feed him. “Soon?” His voice cracked.

“Good because you are going to be rewarded.”

“Huh?”

Changmin smirked. “I guess I could say punished, but you enjoy being tied up, spanked, and denied orgasm way too much for it to be a punishment.”

Jaejoong’s mouth stopped working and he nodded.

“Quickly, my love,” Changmin said and turned away from him.

Jaejoong licked dry lips. “I thought you were with--”

“I know what you thought,” Changmin said. “I did that on purpose.”

“W-why? I ... what?”

Changmin chuckled. “I hate to spoil the surprise, but you must understand that I would much rather have you in my bed than my wife. I feel I need to say it very often.”

“So what?”

“Someone finally found your birth records.”

Jaejoong groaned.

Changmin smirked. “Exactly. It’s your birthday tomorrow. We’re having a party, and I was going to give you your present tonight, but now you’ll just have to wait until after you’ve been punished. Though, having to sit through your celebration with a sore ass will be a wonderful present as well.”

Jaejoong moaned. “I love you so much.”

Changmin laughed. “And I you, my love, but you are not obeying me.”

Jaejoong bit his lip against the lust that shot through him. He bowed his head and whimpered, “I’m sorry, master.”

“We’ll see if you truly are.”

Changmin left the room and if it was not for the toddler in his arms, Jaejoong would have collapsed. As it was, trying to get a baby to sleep and into bed with a raging erection was very, very difficult. But as soon as Taemin was asleep and in his bed, Jaejoong went to their room.

Changmin was there, on the bed, reading a book.

Jaejoong swallowed, unsure of what was expected, but he knew enough, and he knew that he was not welcome on the bed until invited. He went to the middle of the room, fell to his knees, and waited for commands from his master.

“Good boy.”


End file.
